I was injured in California from an unsafe road condition. Can I sue?

Poor road conditions in California, such as potholes, can cause damage to your vehicle and serious physical injuries to you and your passengers. Even if you were partly at fault – such as by speeding – you can still be entitled to a financial award from the city, county, state, and/or federal government.

In this article, our California personal injury attorneys address what you need to know about hazardous road condition lawsuits:

• Who can I sue?
• Government Responsibilities
• Who else can I sue?
• Proving Liability
• Government Design Immunity
• Statute of Limitations
• Compensation
• Unsafe Road Condition Accidents in the News
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who can I sue?

If you sustained damages from unsafe road conditions in California, you can sue the government. Depending on your location, this may be the:

• city
• county
• California state, or
• federal government.

California law gives public entities a reasonable amount of time to discover dangerous road conditions (unless they created the condition themselves) and, after receiving actual or constructive notice, a reasonable amount of time to repair the condition or otherwise protect the public from it.

If the condition existed for a much longer period, and the government should have discovered it in that time, the government may be liable for your damages even if it did not actually know the dangerous condition existed.

Government Responsibilities

Assuming the government has not been reasonable in either the discovery or repair of a dangerous road condition in California, it can be liable for damages as a result of:

• Cracks in the road or potholes that cause you to lose control of your motor vehicle,
• Road signs that are covered by overgrown foliage or have fallen,
• Issues with guardrails on sharp curves, ditches, or on overpasses,
• Failure to include rumble strips on highways,
• Damage to bridges or overpasses,
• Lack of proper warning signs,
• Dangerous curves,
• Inadequate traffic control in construction zones (such as proper marking, cones, etc.)
• Faded lane markings such as edge lines, centerlines, or turn lanes,
• Poor lighting of roads or road signage,
• Clogged drainage causing road flooding, and
• Malfunctioning stoplights at intersections.

Who else can I sue?

There may be other parties you can sue besides the government for a dangerous road condition in California, such as:

• A construction company working on a road,
• The manufacturer of a defective stoplight,
• The company that developed the faulty asphalt on the roads, and
• A truck that spilled oil on the roads, causing you to slide.

In many road construction projects, the government hires a contractor or subcontractor to do the actual repair work. If it is the subcontractor’s poor workmanship that causes your accident, the contractor may be responsible for your injuries, as well as the government.

Proving Liability

The specific evidence of your California case will depend on your facts, but common evidence that is used in a dangerous road conditions lawsuit includes:

• Witness reports
• Police reports
• Your testimony
• Accident photos
• Survey records¹
• Medical records
• Vehicle repairs

In its defense, the government may try to argue:

• You were driving in an unsafe manner,
• You were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and/or
• An intervening cause was the actual cause of your accident, such as another driver or the weather.

Note that under California’s comparative / shared fault laws, you may still be able to recover damages even if you were partially at fault for the accident.

Government Design Immunity

If you sue the government in California for your injuries from a dangerous road condition, at trial, the government can present the “government design immunity” defense. Your lawsuit could be dismissed if the government can show these three things:

1. There is a causal relationship between the road design/plan and your accident;
2. The road design/plan was approved before being constructed; and
3. The reasonableness of the road design/plan is supported by substantial evidence.

To overcome the “government design immunity” affirmative defense, you would need to show three things:

1. A change in physical conditions caused the road design/plan to become dangerous;
2. The government had notice (actual or constructive) of the dangerous conditions; and
3. The government had reasonable time to remedy the road or did not provide sufficient warnings.²

Statute of Limitations

In California, the statute of limitations period for claims against the government is considerably shorter than the same claim made against a non-governmental party. It can be as short as six months after the accident. Therefore, contact a personal injury attorney right away.

Compensation

Once you and your attorney prove your case against the government in California, you can be awarded financial compensation for your injuries and property damage for:

• Medical bills;
• Lost earning capacity;
• Loss in income;
• Loss of consortium;
• Compensation for loss of limbs, scarring, or disfigurement;
• Property damage (such as to your car); and
• Pain and suffering.

If the accident resulted in the death of a family member, you can bring a wrongful death lawsuit for:

• Funeral and burial expenses;
• Financial losses; and
• Compensation for loss of support and companionship.

Unsafe Road Condition Accidents in the News

The following are recent news stories involving lawsuits against local California governments for unsafe roadways:

• LA County to Pay $13.9M Over Dangerous Roadway Conditions – Exlitem (March 26, 2026)
• Oakland settles for $7 million with injured cyclist – The Oaklandside (September 19, 2025)
• $28M Verdict Against Caltrans for Minor Badly Injured in Crosswalk Accident – PRNewsWire (June 3, 2025)
• Special Education Teacher Wins $7.5 Million Settlement After Falling on Uneven Sidewalk – People (October 25, 2005)
• Jury awards $3 million to man who tripped on LA sidewalk that’s been broken for years – ABC-7 (August 12, 2025)

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to file a dangerous-road claim in California?

If your claim is against Caltrans, a city, a county, or another California public entity, you generally must present an administrative claim within six months of the injury or property damage. This is different from filing a lawsuit.

If the agency rejects your claim in a written notice that complies with California law, you generally have six months from the date the notice was personally delivered or mailed to file suit. Different deadlines can apply when no proper rejection notice is given.³

What if I missed California’s six-month government-claim deadline?

You may be able to apply for permission to present a late claim. The application generally must be submitted within a reasonable time and no later than one year after the claim accrued. It must explain the delay and include the proposed claim.⁴

Late-claim rules contain exceptions and procedural requirements, so you should speak with a California attorney promptly rather than assuming that your case is over.

How do I determine whether Caltrans, a city, or a county controls the road?

Responsibility usually depends on which public entity owned or controlled the roadway where the accident occurred. Caltrans commonly controls state highways, while cities and counties generally control many local streets and roads.

Road ownership is not always obvious. Maintenance agreements, construction contracts, and jurisdictional boundaries may affect which entity is responsible. Naming or presenting a claim to the wrong agency can jeopardize an otherwise valid case.

Does every pothole qualify as a “dangerous condition” under California law?

No. California Government Code 830 defines a dangerous condition as one creating a substantial—not minor, trivial, or insignificant—risk of injury when the property is used with due care in a reasonably foreseeable manner.⁵

Relevant factors may include the pothole’s size, depth, location, and visibility; lighting and traffic conditions; prior accidents or complaints; and how long the defect existed.

Must the government have known about the unsafe road before my accident?

Not necessarily. Under California Government Code 835, liability may arise if a public employee negligently created the dangerous condition. Otherwise, the injured person generally must show that the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the condition with enough time to protect against it.⁶

Constructive notice may exist when a hazard was sufficiently obvious and remained for long enough that a reasonably careful inspection should have discovered it.⁷

Can bicyclists and motorcyclists bring dangerous-road claims in California?

Yes. Potholes, pavement seams, loose gravel, unsafe drainage grates and other defects can pose an especially serious risk to people on two wheels.

In Whitehead v. City of Oakland (2025), the California Supreme Court held that a bicyclist’s preinjury liability release did not eliminate a city’s statutory duty to maintain public property in a reasonably safe condition. The ruling did not automatically establish that Oakland was liable, but it allowed the cyclist’s dangerous-condition claim to proceed.⁸

Can I make a claim if a dangerous road damaged my car but did not injure me?

Potentially. A California government claim may seek compensation for personal-property damage, such as a damaged tire, wheel, suspension, or vehicle. The six-month claim-presentation deadline generally applies to personal-property claims as well as bodily-injury and wrongful-death claims.⁹

Keep photographs of the hazard and vehicle damage, repair estimates, invoices, and any towing receipts. The cost and complexity of pursuing the matter should also be weighed against the amount of damage and any available insurance coverage.

What should I do after a crash caused by a pothole or other road defect?

If it is safe to do so:

• Photograph or record the defect, surrounding roadway, warning signs and lighting conditions;
• Preserve dashcam, bicycle-camera or surveillance footage;
• Identify the precise location, direction of travel and lane;
• Obtain contact information from witnesses;
• Report the accident and request a copy of the collision report;
• Seek medical attention;
• Save damaged vehicle parts, repair records and medical bills; and
• Note nearby businesses or homes that may have camera footage.

Road hazards may be repaired quickly after an accident, and video footage may be overwritten. Prompt evidence preservation can therefore be critical.

Can I recover damages if bad weather contributed to the accident?

Possibly. Rain, fog, or flooding does not automatically excuse a public entity from liability. A claim may exist when negligent drainage, recurring flooding, missing warnings, defective pavement, or another dangerous roadway condition contributed to the crash.

The government may argue that weather or the driver’s conduct caused the accident. Under California’s comparative-fault rules, however, partial responsibility does not necessarily prevent recovery; it may instead reduce the damages awarded.

Can I recover punitive damages from a California city, county or state agency?

No. California Government Code 818 bars punitive damages against public entities.¹⁰ Punitive damages may sometimes be available against a private contractor or another private defendant whose conduct meets California’s separate punitive-damages standard.

Compensatory damages against a public entity may still include medical expenses, lost income, diminished earning capacity, property damage, pain and suffering, and other proven losses.

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