Should I win this oil pan damage city lawsuit? Video included

[iDash]

I hit a sewer cover and broke my oil pan.
The reason is that they grinded down the street to get it ready to repave it and left the sewer cover extended high and it seems they created a small hole before the sewer cover.

If you watch the video you will see the first video is on 3/19 and shows road before grinding and see that there is no hole and sewer cover not elevated.
On 4/9 street is grinded down and I actually hit the sewer that time with the bottom of my car going very slowly but no damage. I wasn't sure at the time I hit it but after the 2nd time I knew.
On 4/16 I was going faster and this broke my oil pan,.. you can see the oil streak when I reverse.

The issues I can have is that in NYC they have a law that a pothole must be reported 15 days before the accident for you to claim. This is so that the city had notice of the damage and had time to fix it. However, if you can prove negligence then you can win.

Do you guys think this is negligence when grinding down the street and leaving the sewer cover exposed like that? Or is this just ordinary pothole damage.

I want to show that on 3/19 before they grinded down the street everything was fine. Then on 4/9 and 4/16 with the street grinded this left the sewer cover too high and exposed.

Set video to 1080p for best quality.

 

[Nigel]

I think you were going too fast, you should have avoided it.

There does seem to be a lack of warning signs, but the condition of the road surface was obvious and only you know how much ground clearance your car has so only you can judge if the road is usable or not and what a safe speed is.

It's only an oil pan, is it really worth a lawsuit? Just fit another one, and some fresh oil! 1 piece of aluminium, a tube of sealant and a bottle of oil - you can't afford a lawyer for that price and it's probably not worth an insurance claim either... make sure you learn the lesson and don't do it again.

 

[iDash]

I'm going to small claims court so costs are minimal I'm going to fight it myself. I don't think I was going over the speed limit, it just looks like I was going fast, I did have GPS on the street guardian but will have to figure out how to get the speed.

 

[Nigel]

I'm going to small claims court so costs are minimal I'm going to fight it myself. I don't think I was going over the speed limit, it just looks like I was going fast, I did have GPS on the street guardian but will have to figure out how to get the speed.

The road clearly was not in suitable condition for driving at the normal speed limit, so unless there was a temporary speed limit in place then the court will not be impressed by that argument.

What signs did they have up? Where there warnings of ramps or raised obstacles? Did they have a temporary speed limit?

 

[DT MI]

...I don't think I was going over the speed limit, it just looks like I was going fast,..

The road clearly was not in suitable condition for driving at the normal speed limit...

I have to agree with @Nigel here. Even if you were going under the posted speed limit (which is the maximum - not minimum) you were definitely traveling too fast for conditions which is the practical application of the law. Combine this with the fact you were already aware of the situation you're chances of prevailing are slim to none.

 

[iDash]

Actually when I did turn into the street there was a sign that said "Rough Road".

Here is a longer version of the video when I broke my oil pan. I still can't see how they can leave such a road hazzard and expect to disclaim it with a sign very far away.

 

[kamkar]

Over here in the little old country we have the "conditions of the road" statue in the traffic code, but still the place should have been signed much better, maybe even a temporary significant slower speed limit.

That thing would have sent a biker flying over his handlebars.

 

[Lola]

You were speeding, when you already knew the road conditions were bad There was a sign about conditions, your time to collect had passed (15 days), and the manhole covers WERE higher then the rough street level, good grief you had already hit it once going slow (your words) how did you think you weren't going to hit it again going faster witout doing damage to the oil pan? You were lucky the first time (no hole in pan)! The second time your luck ran out, not to even mention the reporting time! Most states have a law that states speed limits are cut in half in construction areas for the workers safety (a very good law).
Pay the fine and next time THINK before you act ! If you catch the judge in a bad mood (this might do it), it will be a very long day for you!

 

[abarth]

i know how it is to live in a big metro that has terrible roads due to constant construction and public money not being used properly so I feel for you. I come across raised steel plates/manhole covers and potholes daily and it feels like I'm driving through an obstacle course. I've come away with damage that has forced me to pay for repairs on wheels or get an alignment done. it sucks to drive a small car in these conditions and I now understand why SUVs are so popular in the USA.

I hope you do fight it and I hope you win. but if you don't get the resolution you want you also have the option of making it public on a news station. chances are you're not the only one that has incurred damage from this.

 

[iDash]

Let me explain the hitting the oil pan the first time. The first time I hit it going extremely slow as you can see in the video. I wasn't sure I hit the bottom of my car but I actually thought it was a battery that came loose in my hybrid car that made the sound. I couldn't really see how I could have bottomed out my car. This is why the 2nd time I hit the sewer cover I reversed back to see what the heck I could have hit.

But after hitting it the second time I now know that was from bottoming out.

I was not aware that I hit the oil pan the first hit, or I surely would have remembered for the 2nd time.

 

[Nigel]

What is it that you think they have done wrong?

Resurfacing the road is not wrong.
It is normal to leave raised manhole covers while the road is being resurfaced, the only other option is to close the road which is not desirable if not necessary.
The only issue I can see is that there is a dip before the manhole cover, but there is a warning sign indicating a rough road, the sign is there for a good reason, you should have been taking appropriate care.

You can't take them to court if they have done nothing wrong!

 

[iDash]

The issue i have is that they left the road in a condition to where I bottomed out my car just driving down the street.

The people who grinded down the road should not leave a road in such a condition that a normal car would just bottom out, without at least putting a cone or something to block that area.

There was no way to get around this without going completely around it, yet it was very hard to see that it would bottom out my car.

The city a has a duty to not leave the road in such condition after doing work. This wasn't caused by weather or something out of their control, this was done by them grinding up the street.

If I took my car off-road or an area blocked off, then that is a different story.

 

[jokiin]

nothing to lose by having your day in court

 

[iDash]

Quick update.

I sent in an estimate to the city and got back a settlement offer. I never even sent in the dash cam video, although I did mention that I had one.

They got back to me with a settlement offer of $1000. Even though I sent them an estimate for $2000.

They took a while because they had to contact who was doing the street repair at that time.

Do you think I should even bring it to small claims court and try and get the $2000, or just take the $1000 and call it a day? I just epoxied the crack anyway and didn't cost me anything to repair, although it is not a recommended way to fix it.

 

[Nigel]

Surly $1000 is enough to buy several new oil pans?

And it would cost less to get the crack welded...

Unless you can prove that it will cost more than $1000 to fix it properly then you are likely to get less if you take it further, especially if you show them the video!

 

[DashOto]

Judging by the previous comments, I may take the settlement and call it a day.
Especially if you were able to deal with the crack in a way that won't bite you in the A in the future.

At this point, you'd have to decide if the extra possible $1000 you're looking for is worth your time.
Not to mention taking it to court gives the possibility of them bringing up little details to work you over and you might end up with nothing.

 

[SawMaster]

Sounds like the paving contractors insurance took effect. It would cost them more than that amount to take this to court, and $1000 will get you a new or good used pan installed on almost any car with someone else doing all the work. In fact if you shop well you can probably have up to a half of that left after repairs. If you do continue and they decide to fight it, the odds are good that they will win leaving you with nothing.

The road condition was obvious and you have to take that into account when you are driving anywhere anytime even when road work is being done or not. In other circumstances your argument would be stronger but not this way. Don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by being greedy- take their fair offer for the win

Phil

 

[country_hick]

When you look at all of the legal immunities the courts have created the town could win based on nothing more than they claim to be immune from suit.

While immunity is a judge made doctrine that is absolutely unconstitutional and a violation of the common law american courts uphold it all the time.

You can fight if you want but I would take the $1k and run.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

I hear a bit of vibration, did you add the included EVA foam pad? on the mount (or back of camera if your mount doesn't have a flat surface)

This video is for the SG9663DC but same method.

 

[jokiin]

This video is for the SG9663DC but same method.

when I put them on I prefer to put the entire pad on and then remove the cutout piece, less chance of buckling up the thin strip on the bottom