Highway Defect Accidents

How Do I Begin a Highway Defect Accident Personal Injury or Wrongful Death Case?

You are here for legal advice about your personal injury or wrongful death case. Mike Burman at Burman Law offers a free consultation to answer your questions. During your consultation - if you are comfortable - Mike will cover these six key steps with you:

• Preserve important physical evidence so nothing critical is lost
• Interview witnesses and law enforcement
• Take custody of photographs and video
• Review the highway design plans to determine who is responsible for the defect
• Provide you with a free case evaluation so you understand what the case is about
• Provide you with a plan of action so you understand how the case will be handled

Mike is a death and injury lawyer with 25+ years of experience helping hundreds of accident victims against at-fault commercial operators and careless drivers of all types. Other lawyers often call Mike for advice with their personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits. Once you begin your free case evaluation with Mike, you will know the legal advice is coming from an experienced attorney.

There is never any pressure. The consultation is strictly confidential between you and Mike.  Mike will answer all your questions and explain how defective roadway design cases can become successful personal injury cases or wrongful death cases.  If you are dealing with an insurance company adjuster, Mike will give you advice based on years of experience. 

Beginning a road defect case may prevent future fatal injuries or serious injuries to others.  Some defects are hard to see by drivers unfamiliar with such defects.  And so, your case could prevent future accident victims.

You can schedule a free consultation with Mike by clicking:

• Contact
• Chat
• 1- 800-200-1578  

WHAT TYPES OF HIGHWAY DEFECT CASES DOES MIKE HANDLE AT BURMAN LAW?  

 We handle all defective road cases involving wrongful death or personal injury. Cases can be brought against government entities and road construction companies for common causes such as malfunctioning traffic signals and traffic lights, to a road design that causes water to needlessly accumulate.  We handle car crashes caused by roadway conditions that result in motorist or pedestrian fatalities. We handle highway defect cases along:

• Interstate 24 (I-24)
• Interstate 66 (I-66 and Pennyrille Parkway)
• Interstate 65 (I-65)
• Purchase Parkway
• Interstate 40 (I-40)

 In most cases, our law firm achieves a settlement offer in your personal injury claim or wrongful death claim that is satisfactory to you. Where you are not offered a fair amount for your loss, Mike Burman regularly litigates personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Our law firm also handles liens involving workers’ compensation benefits, health care benefits, or hospitals. We handle medical malpractice claims that may arise due to the failure to properly treat serious injuries. Burman Law can give you advice concerning your medical bills, and medical expenses not paid by your health insurance. We do not handle workers’ compensation claims or property damage claims but we can recommend attorneys who handle such cases.  

HOW DOES BURMAN LAW DETERMINE FAULT FOR A HIGHWAY DEFECT INJURY OR DEATH?

We first determine the governmental entities and other responsible parties behind any design defect.  We then look at the type of accident case.   Motor vehicle accidents are documented by various government agencies.  These cases can result in high verdicts if certain time limits are met, and a municipality or government agency knew motor vehicle accidents were likely to occur but recklessly ignored the problem.

Here are some examples of roadway defects resulting in personal injury cases or wrongful death cases:

• Potholes
• Inadequate drainage
• Inadequate warning signs or missing signage
• Worn or missing lane markers
• Defective or substandard construction materials
• Overgrown vegetation blocking road signs
• Misplaced or incorrect road signs
• Broken or malfunctioning traffic lights and traffic signals
• Unreasonably dangerous road conditions or intersections
• Missing guardrails or improperly installed guardrails
• Shoulder drop-offs or non-existent shoulders
• Uneven pavement
• Inadequate highway lighting

WHAT DOES BURMAN LAW DO IN A HIGHWAY DEFECT CASE?

Highway defect cases require quick attention from an experienced personal injury law firm.  Because these cases involve governmental agencies, statutes of limitations can set short time deadlines for you to bring a highway defect or road design case.  Mike Burman is a personal injury attorney with the staff and financial resources needed to take on any insurance company. Mike Burman and his law firm will work quickly to:

•  Understand the mechanism of injury causing pain and suffering or death
• Look for hard-to-find injuries, such as brain injuries or tears in back vertebrae ligaments
• Preserve evidence that could be washed away, destroyed, or lost
• Examine applicable federal, state, county, and municipal regulations (.gov)
• Search for CCTv video/audio, car accident cameras, police videos, and truck accident cameras
• Locate and interview witnesses near the worksite at the time
• Interview department of transportation officials involved in the highway design process
• Engage experts in highway defect safety, road design, or human factors
• Download the “black box” speed and distance computer on any “at-fault” vehicle
• Impound the “at-fault” vehicle or equipment for examination

INSURANCE COMPANY TACTICS

It is very common in a highway defect site case for the insurance adjuster to argue that your injury was caused by comparative negligence (fault by you in contributing to your injury). Highway defect site accident claims are often handled by auto accident adjusters with no training from the insurance company on highway defect statutes and regulations. The insurance company adjuster may not have conducted any investigation on how events unfolded or what caused the resulting personal injury or wrongful death. Our law firm is trained to investigate road design and defective roads.  We use software to determine if the amount offered in your personal injury case or personal injury lawsuit is fair and reasonable. We will always give you an evaluation that is in your best interests. Some of the most common insurance company tactics that we see are:

• Blaming accident victims for their own injuries
• Hiding evidence about the at-fault truck driver or insurance company
• Reducing the value of personal injury or wrongful death by misinterpreting medical records
• Denying the severe injuries are related to the crash or road design
• Making low settlement offers for pre-existing or age-related factors in personal injury cases
• Delaying claims as long as possible until you must accept a low settlement offer
• Making lowball settlement offers to reduce the amount you think is reasonable
• Telling personal injury victims they do not need to hire a lawyer

HOW IS BURMAN LAW PAID?

We are paid a percentage of the money recovered in your case.  Many personal injury lawyers now charge a fee of 40% to begin your case.  Our fee to begin a personal injury or wrongful death case has been 1/3 for more than twenty-five plus years.  We do not spend time or money on expensive Tv Ads, and we pass that savings on to you. There are no hidden disclaimers. We are transparent at all times.

With our free consultation and case evaluation services, you can confidentially discuss your highway defect case with Mike Burman at no charge.  Mike will help you understand your rights and give you a plan of action against the parties involved in the faulty highway defect.  There is never any pressure.  We put all fees and case expenses in writing.  We will set you up with access to a free client portal so you can post anything you want 24/7/365.  We respond to portal messages by the next business day, or sooner.   And you can always contact Mike on his personal cell phone number which he will give you when you hire him to be your highway defect accident attorney.  The staff at Burman Law average ten years of paralegal experience.  Mike Burman has more than 25+ years of experience in personal injury and wrongful death involving interstate and highway design defects, at-fault truck drivers, and careless trucking companies, and car accidents in Kentucky and Tennessee.

We would be honored to help you or your loved ones. Our Google reviews provide real testimonials about the strength of our legal team.  You can schedule a free consultation with Mike by clicking:

• Contact
• Chat
• 1-800-200-1578

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Collisions from highway defects and all types of highway defect cases can be extremely technical in nature.  As an example, consider the below excerpt from How to Design Traffic Systems that Are Self-Explaining by Jan Theeuwes

“Traffic systems that they are self-explaining (SER) are systems that elicit safe and consistent behavior among road users simply by its design. As outlined, road users should be able to categorize a road immediately and consistently as belonging to one or the other road type. In the Netherlands, the concept of self-explaining roads resulted in the redefinition of three road types: Flow (Through), Distributor, and Access Road (see mobility and transport website of the European Commission). Roads with a flow function ensure an efficient throughput of (long-distance) motorized traffic. There are typically a limited number of access and exit point. Typically all motorways/freeways, some through roads, and some urban ring roads have such a flow function. There are normally no junctions with other traffic. Roads that have an area distributor function allow entering and leaving residential and recreational areas, industrial zones, and rural settlements. The road should facilitate the flowing of traffic. There are junctions unregulated or regulated by traffic lights and/or roundabouts. Finally, roads with an access function make it possible to access properties along the street. There are junctions for unregulated or regulated by traffic lights and/or roundabouts. Finally, roads with an access function make it possible to access to properties along the street. There are junctions for traffic exchange and change of direction.”