Who is liable if a sign causes property damage?

[debodun]

I was just adding info that some responders seemed to want to know about the circumstances.

 

[Just Blue]

I was just adding info that some responders seemed to want to know about the circumstances.

Did this actually happen?

 

[debodun]

Not directly to me. I was asking for an elderly friend.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Not directly to me. I was asking for an elderly friend.

Is your elderly friend the car owner or homeowner? I'm assuming she isn't the politician.

 

[quincy]

Say the sign blew into the road in a sudden windstorm and there just happened to be a car passing by at that moment. The sign had not been laying in the street prior to this. The staff of the politician placed it there, not the homeowner.

Although the driver of the car might try to hold your friend (or even the politician) accountable, it does not sound like your friend has to worry about any successful legal action being waged against her, based on the information you have posted.

Accidents happen and sometimes there is no one to blame. The driver can submit a claim to his car insurer.

Thank you for returning to clarify your first post. Appreciated.

 

[debodun]

Someone running for a local office asked her and she wanted to know who is liable if the sign did any property damage.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Someone running for a local office asked her and she wanted to know who is liable if the sign did any property damage.

Why would someone running for office ask your elderly friend who obviously didn't know and had no way to find out other than asking a friend who didn't know?

 

[quincy]

Someone running for a local office asked her and she wanted to know who is liable if the sign did any property damage.

Most political signs are lightweight and unlikely to cause vehicle damage anyway. If I were your elderly friend, I would not accept installation of a political billboard but a regular old campaign sign should not cause problems.

 

[Just Blue]

Why would someone running for office ask your elderly friend who obviously didn't know and had no way to find out other than asking a friend who didn't know?

The politician asked the elderly neighbor to place the sign in her yard, which caused the elderly neighbor to ask OP what would happen if it blew into a passing car. The lack of punctuation made OP's post a little confusing.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

The politician asked the elderly neighbor to place the sign in her yard, which caused the elderly neighbor to ask OP what would happen if it blew into a passing car. The lack of punctuation made OP's post a little confusing.

The lack of punctuation made OP's post mean something else entirely.

 

[Just Blue]

The lack of punctuation made OP's post mean something else entirely.

Yes. It took me three reads before it made sense. I had to "add" punctuation to understand what OP meant.

 

[quincy]

It was actually a smart question for the elderly neighbor to ask. In this sue-happy society, you don’t want to put yourself at unnecessary risk of a lawsuit.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

It was actually a smart question for the elderly neighbor to ask. In this sue-happy society, you don’t want to put yourself at unnecessary risk of a lawsuit.

But it wasn't a smart decision to rely on the advice of this friend.

 

[quincy]

But it wasn't a smart decision to rely on the advice of this friend.

I don’t think the elderly neighbor was relying on debodun’s advice so much as asking debodun about liability - and debodun responded to her elderly friend’s inquiry by seeking out the answer.