Broken Traffic Signals Can Cause Accidents

Paul Grieco

Contributor

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Drivers have enough to think about when driving down the road in terms of watching out for other drivers. All drivers have a duty and responsibility to maintain a proper look out and act as any reasonable driver would. If they don't and they injure someone they can be held liable and responsible for compensating the person(s) they injure. But what if someone is injured because of a broken traffic signal

Cities and municipalities have a duty and responsibility to provide proper maintenance on traffic signals and signage. If an accident occurs and it turns out that the accident happened because of a faulty light, signal or sign, responsibilty may fall on the city. The key to pursuing a case against a city is to be able to establish that they had notice or should have had notice of a problem with one of their traffic signals. If such notice can be established, an injured party may be entitled to compensation. The notice issue can be investigated by reviewing accident reports in order to determine the frequency of accidents at a particular location.