Syracuse, New York, Bridge Accidents

Jed Dietrich, Esq., Recognized as a Super Lawyer and American Institute of Trial Lawyers Litigator of the Year, is Committed to Defending the Rights of Bridge Accident Victims Across Syracuse. If You, or a Loved One, Have Been Injured in a Bridge Accident That Was Not Your Fault, You Deserve Aggressive Representation and an Attorney Willing to Fight for Your Rights.

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Federal regulators have spent years lamenting the state of America’s rapidly-decaying infrastructure. Even in New York, where legislators invest heavily in transportation, many municipalities have already begun to buckle under the weight of maintenance-related expenditures. Bridges and overpasses—some built before the Eisenhower administration—are often found riddled with potholes and cracks, stoking fears of widespread failure.

However, poorly maintained bridges can cause problems more common than collapse. If a bridge’s characteristics are inherently unsafe, motorists face risks ranging from uneven surfaces to unpredictable traffic patterns. Accidents, while rare, can have life-altering repercussions, leaving victims injured and without any apparent recourse.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. believes that nobody should be forced to pay the price for an accident that was not their fault. A recognized U.S. News & World Report Best Law Firm, our attorneys know what it takes to investigate a complex collision, negotiate a fair settlement, and ensure that victims receive the resources needed to reclaim their independence. Please send us a message online or call us at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a bridge accident lawyer near Syracuse and begin exploring your options for rapid legal relief.

An Overview of Onondaga County’s Underreported Infrastructure Problems

According to a recent report authorized by the National Transportation Research Nonprofit, one out of every eight bridges in the Syracuse area requires significant repairs to prevent further degradation and mitigate risks of imminent failure.

In its assessment of bridge conditions, the National Transportation Research Nonprofit found that up to 12% of all bridges in Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties are in poor condition. In other words, while still salvageable and capable of carrying traffic, these bridges suffer from advanced section loss, general deterioration, and other obvious structural deficiencies.

Alarmingly, Syracuse-area bridges rated as either poor or structurally deficient carry upwards of 900,000 vehicles per day. The busiest of these bridges include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. An Interstate 690 and Interstate 81 junction crossing over North Townsend Street in Syracuse;
2. An Interstate 690 and Interstate 298 junction crossing over North Clinton Street in Syracuse; and
3. An East Brighton Avenue bridge, north of Exit 1 on Interstate 481.

The National Transportation Research Nonprofit stresses that, even when poor-condition bridges are still motorable, they nonetheless have a significant impact on daily life. Revised weight restrictions can force school buses and commercial vehicles onto city streets, while physical defects and poor signage could raise the likelihood of high-speed car crashes.

For accident victims, figuring out what went wrong—what caused their accident, and how it could have been averted—could make recovery seem like a veritable impossibility. However, you do not have to accept unanswered questions in place of a fair settlement.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. has spent years helping New Yorkers fight for their rights. If you, or a loved one, have been injured in a Syracuse bridge accident that was not your fault, our experienced team of attorneys could help you investigate the causes of your crash, uncovering the evidence needed to establish liability and begin constructing a compelling claim for recompense. Please send us a message online or call us at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a bridge accident lawyer near Syracuse and schedule your free consultation.

The Challenge of Maintaining Safe Bridges in Syracuse

Bridges are often viewed as extensions of other paved surfaces. However, traffic safety researchers have long since observed that the physical structure of individual bridges can influence both road design and accident risk.

For example, highway bridges differ from surface-level roadways with respect to the following:

1. Road and Shoulder Size: Bridges are typically narrower than surface-level roads and do not always have safety features like shoulders. Even when shoulders are present, they may not be wide enough for a disabled vehicle to be moved out of the way of oncoming traffic.
2. Structural Constraints: Large bridges, especially bridges that pass over rivers and other bodies of water, are sometimes surfaced with steel or polished cement. Since neither steel or polished cement can be resurfaced as easily as asphalt, deficiencies can have a more pronounced effect on structural integrity.
3. Traffic Volume: Highway bridges and nonhighway bridges are built to circumvent different types of obstacles, including urban streets and natural landscape features. In many cases, motorists have no choice but to use bridges to bypass such obstacles, leading to higher-than-normal traffic volumes.

Since bridges combine different types of risks—the risk of insufficient safety measures, the risk of structural defects, and the risk of driver error—determining the exact cause of an accident can be difficult.

Common contributing factors could include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Driver error;
2. Driver negligence;
3. Poor bridge or bridge surface design;
4. Inadequate or insufficient maintenance; and
5. Inadequate or insufficient lighting.

The presence of an unexpected defect, for instance, could force another driver to make an unexpected maneuver that culminates in a multi-vehicle collision. In such cases, the at-fault motorist might deny liability, saying that their response was a reasonable reaction to an on-road hazard. Similarly, the entity responsible for bridge maintenance—maybe the New York State Bridge Authority, or the Onondaga County Department of Transportation—might try to posit the collision as an ordinary traffic accident.

Determining Liability After a Syracuse Bridge Accident

Bridge accidents can be complex, irrespective of whether they involve driver error, inadequate maintenance, or some combination thereof.

After an accident, victims may be forced to sift through competing narratives about causation and liability. Even with the right evidence, simply initiating a claim could prove challenging. If, for example, a government entity is named as a defendant, you may be required to submit notice to the concerned agency before filing a lawsuit. In many cases, state and county agencies expect this notice to be provided within a matter of weeks or months—meaning that, in the absence of rapid action and experienced counsel, victims could inadvertently forfeit their rights to a fair recovery before ever stepping foot inside a courtroom.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. could help you make sense of a complicated situation, investigating your Syracuse-area bridge collision, identifying defendants, and collecting the evidence needed to negotiate a settlement or secure a court-ordered award.

We could take steps including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Investigating Your Accident: Accident sites are often replete with different types of physical and circumstantial evidence. The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. could provide on-the-ground assistance in the aftermath of a collision, working to secure relevant evidence and ensuring that it stays safe.
2. Identifying the Right Defendants: Bridge accidents can be caused by a confluence of factors, including driver negligence, contractor mismanagement, and inadequate maintenance. By investigating your accident and reviewing all available evidence, we could establish which parties should be held liable for your injuries, maximizing your chance of receiving a fair settlement.
3. Consulting Qualified Experts: The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. regularly works with transportation infrastructure experts who have the education and knowledge needed to assess whether a government agency exercised a reasonable standard of care in designing or maintaining a bridge.
4. Interviewing Eyewitnesses: Eyewitness testimony can make or break a bridge accident claim. We could locate and interview eyewitnesses, using their testimony to build a better case. If there are no eyewitnesses, our attorneys could still obtain other critical evidence, including surveillance camera footage and traffic monitoring logs.
5. Protecting Your Rights: Since our founding in 2005, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. has fought to protect our clients’ rights to a fair recovery. Retaining our experienced counsel puts your claim in good hands, letting you focus on your physical well-being while we break down legal barriers and assert your interests.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s experienced team of attorneys knows what it takes to litigate a high-stakes claim on multiple fronts—and we have the results to prove it. Please call us at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a Bridge accident lawyer near Syracuse and schedule your 100% free consultation as soon as possible.

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Call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. immediately at 1-866-529-5334 so that our aggressive, tenacious, and hardworking personal injury lawyers can fight to obtain the best result for your personal injury claim in Syracuse, New York. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there is never a fee until we WIN for you!

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