Caltrans, or the California Department of Transportation, is one of California’s executive departments. It is the government agency responsible for the planning, construction and maintenance of state highways.
When car accidents are caused by dangerous, poorly-designed roads, Caltrans can be held liable via personal injury claims. An injury victim can file a Caltrans lawsuit seeking compensation for medical bills, lost income, pain, suffering and more.
Personal injury lawsuits involving government agencies, government employees, or city or municipal governments can be more difficult to win than the average lawsuit. There are many challenges to overcome, like strict time limits and special legal protections like sovereign immunity.
If you’re looking to sue a government agency or city government, you need experienced lawyers by your side who know how to deal with the specific challenges involved in these types of cases.
Call us today for a FREE consultation at (800) 718-4658 or contact us if you or a loved one was injured or killed in an accident in California due to a badly designed road.
Who Can File a Caltrans Lawsuit?
Anyone who is injured in an accident can file a lawsuit if the incident occurred due to unsafe road design. This includes:
- Drivers
- Motorcyclists
- Pedestrians
- Cyclists
- Family members (in wrongful death cases)
Why Hire Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers For Your Caltrans Lawsuit?
- Proven Track Record – Our experience with these cases stretches all the way back to 1990 and we have recovered over $750,000,000 for our clients.
- Local Insight and Connections – Our attorneys have strong working connections all across California that we partner with such as body shops and medical providers to ensure your treatment plan and documentation is all in order.
- Fast Evidence Preservation – From the moment you sign with us, we send spoliation letters, pull traffic-camera footage, and secure vehicle black-box data to ensure no evidence is lost.
- Client-First Approach – No matter what kind of case you have, our legal team is focused on providing exceptional service from day one.
- Communication You Can Rely On – You will always be in contact with your attorney and will be able to discuss your case with them.
- No Financial Risk – With our contingency fee structure, you never pay upfront. We only get paid if we win.
Examples of Poor Roadway Design That Could Lead to a Lawsuit
Many of the most dangerous roads in California share common design flaws which could potentially lead to a lawsuit.
Examples of poor roadway design which could qualify you for a road design lawsuit include:
Poor visibility and driver guidance
- Inadequate sight distance or obstructed visibility
- Defective, missing, or inadequate signage (including warning signs)
- Improper, faded, confusing, or missing striping/road markings (lane lines, edge lines, highway division)
Dangerous roadway geometry or layout
- Poor intersection design (limited visibility, confusing approach angles, unsafe configuration)
- Improper curve, grade, or embankment design
- Unsafe lane transitions, roadway narrowing, or sudden alignment changes
Defective freeway entrances, exits, and merging areas
- Inadequate merge lanes or poorly designed on/off ramps
- Misaligned freeway entrances or exits
- Dangerous ramp geometry (tight curves, limited visibility, abrupt lane drops)
Inadequate roadside safety features
- Lack of guardrails or barriers in dangerous areas
- Unsafe shoulder design or conditions (insufficient width, drop-offs, uneven surface-to-shoulder transitions)
- Failure to warn drivers about shoulder changes or hazards
Unsafe medians or failure to install protective barriers
- Dangerous median design (too narrow, improperly shaped, or otherwise hazardous)
- Failure to install median barriers where crossover accidents are foreseeable
Defective drainage or surface hazards
- Defective drainage design leading to pooling, hydroplaning risk, or erosion
- Unmarked road hazards (dips, uneven pavement, sudden drop-offs)
- Surface defects that create loss-of-control risk
Poorly planned or hazardous construction zones
- Badly established work zones with inadequate warnings, cones, tapering, or lane guidance
- Unsafe temporary traffic control or confusing detours
- Abrupt lane shifts, unmarked drop-offs, or uneven temporary surfaces
Inadequate roadway lighting
- Lack of streetlights or insufficient lighting in high-risk areas
- Defective or poorly maintained lighting that reduces nighttime visibility
Can You Sue a City for Bad Roads?
If you’re wondering if you can sue a city over bad roads – the answer is yes, you can. Government agencies like Caltrans can be sued over bad roadway design.
The California Tort Claims Act (CTCA) can shield the state government, local governments and government agencies from liability in some personal injury claims. However, lawsuits are fair game against government agencies who design roads defectively, as the CTCA lists exceptions to the legal concept of sovereign immunity under which government agencies can be held liable for harm they cause.
It’s important to keep in mind that if you’ve been injured in an accident and need to file a claim against a government agency, you have less time to file your claim than in a normal personal injury case. Tort claims against government agencies need to be filed within six months of the date of the injury.
What You Need to Prove in a Caltrans Design Claim
If you’ve been injured due to a defective roadway design and wish to recover financial compensation from Caltrans, you’ll need to prove the four elements of negligence:
- Duty of care: You need to prove that Caltrans had a legal duty to keep the road safe. Maintaining the safety of public roads is a basic governmental function. Thus, it is typically straightforward to prove this element in negligence claims.
- Breach of duty: You need to prove that Caltrans breached its duty by allowing a dangerous condition to exist, or by failing to fix a dangerous condition in a manner which was timely.
- Causation: You need to prove that the defective roadway design directly caused you to get in an accident and get injured. This means if the defective road was fixed, you wouldn’t have gotten into the accident.
- Damages: You need to prove that you suffered losses due to the accident, such as medical expenses, pain, suffering, lost wages or property damage.
You need to support all of these elements with strong evidence in order to successfully win a case against Caltrans.
What Types of Evidence Can Support Your Claim Against Caltrans?
- Video and photographic evidence of a defective roadway design existing when the accident occurred
- Accident reports such as police reports, which may include officers’ observations of roadway conditions
- Witness statements from residents who are familiar with the area, pedestrians or other drivers, as these can confirm the duration and presence of a hazard at the accident scene
- Government reports and maintenance records, as these can show if Caltrans knew about the dangerous condition ahead of time, or if similar accidents had happened in the same place in the past
What Is My Caltrans Lawsuit Worth?
When private citizens are injured on government property like public roads or government buildings, their cases may be worth anywhere from a few thousand dollars to over $100,000.
What Factors Contribute To The Value of My Case?
- Injury severity: The primary factor that will determine the value of your case will be the severity of your injuries. Cases involving only minor injuries such as sprains and strains may be worth only a few thousand dollars. Cases involving catastrophic injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord injuries, may be worth well over $100,000. Cases involving wrongful death may be worth over $1,000,000.
- Injury permanence: Cases involving injuries that lead to long-term limitations or permanent disabilities will likely have higher values.
- Degree and obviousness of liability: If it is abundantly clear that Caltrans is 100 percent at fault for the accident, your case may be worth more.
- Medical bills: The bulk of the financial compensation involved in a personal injury case is usually compensation for medical bills. This includes past medical expenses as well as the costs of any treatments the injury victim can be expected to require in the future.
- Lost wages: Those injured by defective roadway designs have a right to compensation for any wages they’re unable to earn due to their injuries.
- Loss of earning capacity: When accidents caused by defective road designs leave victims permanently disabled, the victims are eligible for compensation for any loss or reduction of earning capacity caused by that disability.
- Property damage: If you lose control of your vehicle and crash due to a defective roadway design, our law firm can help you file a civil lawsuit seeking compensation for the cost to repair or replace your vehicle.
- Pain and suffering: When private parties are injured because of defective roadway designs, they can recover compensation from Caltrans for the physical pain, mental suffering and emotional distress resulting from their injuries.
- Wrongful death: If you lost a loved one due to an accident caused by a defective road design, you can file a wrongful death claim seeking compensation which will help make sure your family doesn’t need to go through financial hardship.
- The skill and experience of your lawyer: You have a better chance at recovering more money if you hire an experienced attorney with decades of experience handling defective roadway design cases.
Caltrans Settlement Examples
Examples of Caltrans settlements and verdicts which have been reported on the internet include:
$37.35 Million Construction Worker Injury Settlement
Caltrans agreed to pay over $37 million to a man and the man’s family in 2019 after he was struck by a vehicle along Highway 101 in Eureka, leaving him paralyzed.
The man’s injuries left him as a quadriplegic who can’t speak and can move only his eyes.
The man was working in a hole along the highway when he was struck by the passing motorist. The plaintiffs argued that Caltrans was responsible for the man’s injuries since worksite officials refused to let the job contractor shut down one lane of traffic in order to protect workers.
Once Caltrans denied the requested lane closure, the contractor put a backhoe in place as a barrier in order to protect workers, but Caltrans ordered the backhoe removed and placed a light tower to illuminate the area at night instead.
According to the man’s attorney, he was struck by a driver who was temporarily blinded by that light.
A jury awarded the man and his family $56.5 million. Caltrans appealed that verdict, leading to the family and Caltrans agreeing to a $37.35 million settlement.
$9.9 Million Defective Road Verdict
A mother and daughter sued Caltrans after their vehicle struck a dirt berm which was negligently left by maintenance crews with Caltrans. The vehicle ended up plunging into an aqueduct, where the plaintiffs were trapped for over a half hour. Injuries included neurological and brain damage as well as quadriplegia.
The plaintiffs argued that the bridge guardrail was negligently constructed by Caltrans, and that the dirt berm violated state standards, serving as a ramp which launched the vehicle over the guardrail. The plaintiffs argued that Caltrans failed to fix a dangerous condition despite knowing for 10 years that the location had seen high fatality and accident rates.
The plaintiffs ended up recovering $9,995,000.
$14.2 Million Settlement For Insufficient Warning Signage
Two motorcyclists collided head-on, killing one of the motorcyclists. This occurred after one of the motorcyclists crossed into the oncoming lane, having curved around the bend too quickly, as no warning signs were present about an upcoming hairpin curve.
It became clear during the trial that the state knew that warning signs were needed at the location, as multiple accidents had occurred at the location due to its characteristics. The jury agreed with this, awarding $14.2 million to the family of the motorcyclist who was killed.
$3.8 Million Caltrans Bicycle Accident Settlement
An 84-year-old cyclist was struck from behind by a vehicle on a bridge in Southern California in 2021, suffering a broken leg, seven broken ribs, a spinal cord injury and a punctured lung.
A jury found that the bridge was “dangerous” and that Caltrans failed to properly warn drivers about it, calling it a “concealed trap.” The jury awarded the cyclist $3.8 million over the negligent signage on a bridge.
During the trial, evidence was introduced that Caltrans knew that the bridge was dangerous as early as 1999, and met in 2011, failing to follow through on a plan for a bike lane that would separate motorists and cyclists. A key witness was a former transportation planner who attended the 1999 meeting. He said that it amazed him that it took so long for an accident like this one to happen.
How Long Do I Have to Sue Caltrans?
You have six months from the date of injury to sue government agencies such as Caltrans under a time limit known as a statute of limitations.
If your claim is denied, you then have six more months to file a civil lawsuit seeking compensation for your injuries.
Regardless of how long it has been since your injuries, calling us today maximizes your chances of obtaining fair compensation for your injuries, as it can take time to put together a strong personal injury case. Don’t delay – file a case ASAP.
Contact Our Road Design Defect Attorneys Today
Call us today for a FREE consultation at (800) 718-4658, or contact us online if you or a loved one was injured or killed due to a defective road design that Caltrans failed to correct.
Our car accident lawyers have been handling dangerous and defective roadway cases since 1990, recovering hundreds of millions of dollars for injured victims and their families.
We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case.
We can also connect you with trusted medical providers who may offer treatment with no upfront costs, allowing you to focus on your recovery while we handle your claim.
Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers: Your Best Bet After An Accident
- 35+ years of experience fighting for the rights of injured Californians
- Over $750 million recovered for clients across a wide range of serious injury cases
- Personalized legal strategies tailored to your specific accident and injuries
- Direct access to your legal team and critical case resources from day one
- No upfront costs — we work on a contingency fee basis
- 24/7 availability to answer your questions and guide you through the process
