What us a utility’s legal duty to provide adequate warning of a dangerous condition?
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What us a utility’s legal duty to provide adequate warning of a dangerous condition?
A cable provider parked their truck along the right side of a road in a gated community in. The workers ran a cable on the ground and across the road without posting any warnings. My friend was riding her bike home. She saw the truck and a car that had parked on the other side of the road. As she turned left to go around the truck, she struck the cable, which she hadn’t seen or been forewarned of. A crash ensued, causing injuries. Now she is likely going to have to have back surgery for a herniated disc. She didn’t see the cable before striking it and then hitting the
pavement.
Asked on August 14, 2017 under Personal Injury, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
They don't have a specific, utility-related duty, but are subject to the same duty that all persons and businesses have to take reasonable care to avoid foreseeable (logical or predictable) risks. That a cable across the road could impede a bicycle, trip a jogger or pedestrian, etc. appears to be foreseeable; reasonable stesp they should have taken include putting cones by the cable to draw attention to it, posting warning signs up, having a flagman (or -woman) warning people, etc. Since there was what appears to be a foreseeable risk and also reasonable, common steps which could have been taken to mitigate such risk, the failure to do so may well have been negligent, or unreasonably careless, and your friend may be able to sue for compensation. She should speak with a personal injury attorney to explore this option.
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