San Francisco Bay Area Dangerous Roads Attorney

State route 17 is a scenic road that runs through the Santa Cruz mountains. It winds its way through Scotts Valley in the south, all the way to Los Gatos and San Jose in the north. Along the way, however, it presents drivers with a number of hazards – sharp turns, blind spots, narrow shoulders, changes in speed, and slick highway surfaces after rains or snows. A number of sections of SR 17 are notoriously dangerous, earning nicknames like “The Valley of Surprise” or “Big Moody Curve” due to the visible evidence present that so many cars have hit the median along the curves in these sections of the road.

Understanding why State Route 17 is so Dangerous

State route 17 is particularly dangerous because of the number of sharp curves, blind curves, and sudden changes in speed along the road. As a result, drivers sometimes have difficulty negotiating unexpected sharp turns and careen off the median divider along the road. Depending on the time of year, road conditions are made even more hazardous by rain, fog, and snow. As a result, when a car hits the median and spins out of control it often involves other cars resulting in multi-car serious accidents.

Caltrans and Accidents along State Route 17

Given state route 17’s reputation as a dangerous highway, it’s only natural to ask what, if anything, is being done to improve safety along the highway. While Caltrans maintains the road, there are currently no major plans to redesign the most dangerous portions of the road. This raises questions of liability in car accidents caused by road conditions along SR 17.

Depending on the circumstances of a car accident along SR 17, it may be possible to hold Caltrans liable for injuries and fatalities that occur as a result of road design, lack of water drainage, improper signage, obscured signage, lack of reflectors, or an absence of rough road signal a need to reduce speed. Even in cases where a motorist is involved in an accident caused by someone else losing control of their car, dangerous road design may be a contributing factor.

Contact Bay Area Dangerous Road Design Attorneys at Weber & Nierenberg

If you’ve been injured in an accident along SR 17 or along another stretch of dangerous road in the Bay Area, contact San Francisco car accident attorneys at the personal injury law office of Weber & Nierenberg. We can evaluate your case and discuss the best legal options available to you.

When an intersection, bend in the highway or stretch of road is repeatedly the scene of car, truck or motorcycle accidents, poor road design or faulty construction may be involved. Initially, design defects or construction flaws may not be suspected in a car accident, especially when more than one vehicle is involved in a crash. However, when reconstructing a car wreck, investigators may determine that various road design and construction defects contributed to an accident. Here, a municipality, construction company, county or Caltrans itself may be liable.

Poorly Designed Roads

When roads or highways are constructed, they must be properly graded to allow for water drainage and an even surface between roadway and shoulder. Differences in the level of pavement can cause a driver to suddenly lurch to the right or left. This propensity is especially dangerous when a driver inadvertently or intentionally pulls over onto the shoulder of the road. Alternatively, grading that results in water collecting on the road when it rains can lead to hydroplaning.

Sudden sharp curves or bends in a road should be properly marked with signs and reduced speed limits. Entry and exit ramps should be clearly marked and should not include sudden dips or unreasonably sharp turns. Intersections that sit at the bend of a curve or over the top of a hill should be properly marked and may need traffic lights to decrease the likelihood of collisions.

Additionally, lack of guardrails along bridges, slight bends in the road or embankments can lead to serious injury or death when accidents cause cars or trucks to leave the road.

Road Maintenance, Road Construction and Car Accidents

Municipalities that fail to trim back brush or tree branches along roadways may be liable when overgrowth obscures signs that warn drivers of steep grades, curves or dips in the road. Additionally, Caltrans or local counties can be held liable when potholes or broken pavement cause serious accidents. Here, it’s important to work with a personal injury attorney who can immediately take pictures of potholes or obscured signage before maintenance and repair crews fix the problem that played a role in an accident.

In accidents involving road construction, it’s important to determine whether or not construction crews were in compliance with applicable regulations governing road construction in the state of California. If traffic was diverted into an oncoming lane in order to make road repairs, was there sufficient signage warning drivers? If a construction crew was resurfacing an area road, were there grooves, uneven pavement or loose gravel that played a role in causing an accident? Did construction zone workers contribute to an accident by failing to properly use cones and signs to regulate traffic flow through a construction zone?

Contact San Francisco Dangerous Roads Attorneys at Weber & Nierenberg

If your accident was caused or complicated by dangerous road conditions, don’t expect Caltrans or the municipality involved to step forward and take responsibility. Since preserving evidence and gathering eyewitness testimony is crucial in these kinds of cases, it’s important to consult an experienced car accident attorney as soon as possible after your accident. To schedule a free consultation and discuss your case, contact San Francisco defective road design attorneys at Weber & Nierenberg today.