need advice. Wrecked bike on gravel with inadequate signs

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86Cutty

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I was riding my motorcycle down a neighborhood road at night, and a car was turning toward me. The lights of the vehicle were bright, so I kept looking straight and trying not to focus on the lights. I noticed a some gravel and put in the clutch, and started breaking a little and down shifting. Then I noticed that as far as I could see down the road, the road was with gravel, and dips in the road. There weren't any warning signs. The only thing that can possibly considered as a warning, is three cones slightly close together. I wrecked my bike, and was wondering if I can go to a lawyer and sue someone for the 2 days I had to cancel work, and the damage to my bike?
I have scratched up knees, and my scholder poped out of place because of the fall.
 
No one has a duty to warn you of gravel on the road. So NO.
 
Aw come on, Harris! NO duty? They didn't have ANY duty to inform motorists that the road they have been travelling on is about the be all gravel? I'm not convinced
 
I think they did have a duty. So then lets work in reverse. Remember Learned Hands "caclulus of negligence"?

B< PL

B is the cost of putting up signs
P is the probability that someone would crash if there are no signs
L is the gravity of the lost (the cost of the bike)

this is a ruined bike, we'll call it $8000
Probability that this would happen, lets say 1.00 percent, because it did happen
p x L = 1.00 x 8000
= 8000

Now then, if the burden to put op a sign is less than $8000, and I know of no sign that costs nearly $8000, then there is a breach of duty.

So yeah, I would give calling a lawyer a shot
 
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Ok NY, why on earth would a municipality have a duty to put a sign that says "gravel" on it? Or are you talking about a paving company?
 
I'm saying they would have a duty to put up a sign if it is cheaper than damages that could arise by them failing to do so. Since this guy already wrecked his bike, it's pretty clear that it would have been cheaper to put up a sign. Remember, there is a universal duty unless the burden of that duty costs more than the results. And besides, we see these signs all time time. From "gravel" to "wet road" to "grated bridge" to "Lanes shift."
This is pretty good evidence that other municipalities agree that there is a duty to put up such signs.
 
I'm not an expert, but I would think a sign saying "Road Work Ahead 50FT" would be good enough for most people. Just like a sign in a building that says, "Wet Floor". It's so people can know there's something ahead. There wasnt any kind of sign. If there was a car behind me, I probably would've been run over, or if I flew over the bike, the bike would've fell on me.
 
Harris and I are in disagreement about this, but I think you should contact a lawyer about possibly bringing a suit against the municipality.
 
Harris and I are in disagreement about this, but I think you should contact a lawyer about possibly bringing a suit against the municipality.

So I just go to a Lawyer and tell him/her what happend? I was talking to a cop and he said that I should've done a police report. Does it make a difference if I did or didnt?
 
After re-reading the OP, I maybe in agreement that the Paving company and not the municipality or the State may have some liability in your case. NY maybe right afterall.
 
After re-reading the OP, I maybe in agreement that the Paving company and not the municipality or the State may have some liability in your case. NY maybe right afterall.

I don't know if they were paving the road or building something close to the road. All i know was that the road was messed up, there was gravel, and there were dips in the road and part of the road was sticking up.

This where I fell. The skid marke is where I started to fall and I landed after the dip.
 
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