bumpy US roads and sporty cars

Damage claims arising from defects of or unrepaired damage to the road
surface are sometimes accepted, and decided on a case-by-case basis, by
the department that has jurisdiction. That would probably be Caltrans
or the appropriate city attorney's office.

I get the impression here that

(a) it's a hypothetical case, which probably wouldn't interest them too
much; and

(b) you'd have to prove that it was either a defect of or damage to the
road, rather than just a characteristic of it that you should've
watched out for; or in the latter case, that good practice for such a
characteristic would involve a warning sign, such as BUMP or ROUGH
ROAD.

Some jurisdictions won't pay claims until x days after a pothole or
other damage has been formally reported. (Generally speaking they DO
want citizens to report genuine problems in an accurate and timely
fashion -- we drivers collectively see a lot more than the department
ever could!) See for instance
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,...194--F,00.html
or
http://www.sandiegomag.com/issues/ap..._pothole.shtml
(your favorite search engine can come up with examples specific to your
area).

There are a lot of gray areas here (and the gradation of the gray scale
might vary a lot from one jurisdiction to another -- claiming
"governmental immunity" is a pretty common response in some places).
There's a balance, somewhere in there, between the highway or street
department's duty to keep things in reasonable shape and the driver's
duty to know his or her car, keep an eye out, and behave accordingly.

And when you are talking about basic characteristics of a road rather
than a pothole or suchlike they might say it is not reasonable to
expect that all roads will be equally well suited to any arbitrarily
selected car... or that they can respond immediately and effectively to
some road problems that call for major reconstruction.

Unfortunately for the trip you describe, there are some
Sisyphys-tackles-the-Augean-stables stretches of road where the
combination of geology, traffic, and lack of money might well mean that
if certain stretches ever *are* really set right they won't stay that
way...

--Joe

On 3 Jan 2006 05:10:59 -0800, "Larry Bud" >
wrote:

>> Or are they accepting damage to their cars caused by overlooking a bump?
>> I also don't understand that people in the US accept such bumpy roads.
>
>It's gotta be a union thing. It takes FOREVER to rebuild or replace a

It IS a union thing, IE the union doesn't give a **** about anything,
including the workers, except for maximizing their revenue. Unions
should be outlawed.

Of course, then we would have companies running rampant over
employees.

Oh wait, they already do, because unions don't offer real protection.

"Frank Puck" > wrote in message
et...
>> anyone else does that or not.) What happened that caused damage to your
>> car?
>
>
> I'm talking about potential damage to a sporty car caused by passing over
> a bump which had no warning sign posted.

Try looking ahead at the roadway, and reacting
to what you see by adjusting the controls in your car.

It has worked out fine for me!

Bernard
>

Frank Puck wrote:
> While driving from SF Bay Area to Las Vegas and back I run over several
> bumps which where too deep for my not to sporty Golf GTI
> -- the suspension of this car is much too soft for a sporty car while harder
> than the average car sold in the US.
> But there are people driving real sporty cars in the US -- sporty in a sense
> that they have a hard suspension.
> How do these people deal with bumpy US roads -- are they driving their cars
> only on Sundays on well known roads without bumps?
> Or are they accepting damage to their cars caused by overlooking a bump?
> I also don't understand that people in the US accept such bumpy roads.
> Can I sue the matching local government for damage caused by such a bump
> which has not been warned about?

Most localities have exclusions for road damage written into statute.
The solution is in your hands my friend.

1. Watch out for bumps in the road - drivers in Pennsylvania take that
skill to a high art.
2. Buy a bigger car with more forgiving and larger wheels and softer
suspension.
3. Only drive in areas that are not subject to snow, ice and the
consequent road damage.