Oil Caused Accident on Highway

My question involves an injury that occurred in the state of: Washington

so last a few days ago i was in accident where i rolled my car off an embankment and it is totaled. it has already been established by the state patrol and my insurance company that i am not liable and there was nothing i could in the situation.

i was on my way to school i live in (rural area) i was coming around a corner and there was large rocks in the road ( this is where detail is important) the rocks being in the road way did not cause me to crash i would have in fact had a more severe accident had they been gone. but as i finished going around the corner i hit an oil slick caused from someones oil. i lost complete control of the car. I only have liability so it wont cover my car and its to hard to sue the dot for the road conditions.

however i found out who the person that caused the oil on the road was.An hour or two before i came through the area they hit the rocks and took out there oil pan leaving it all over the road, they then went a few miles up the road and got a tow.

are they liable for causing my accident since it was the oil that made me lose control and it wasn't cleaned up by the person and i also found out they dont have insurance

if i need to suply anything else let me know

OP is hoping that someone on this board will give him an answer he likes better than the ones he's been getting elsewhere for the last several days.

http://forum.freeadvice.com/auto-acc...ay-534212.html

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Quoting cbg

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OP is hoping that someone on this board will give him an answer he likes better than the ones he's been getting elsewhere for the last several days.

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Yet it took quite a while for somebody to post, in essence, "Hey, this story doesn't entirely make sense."

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Quoting fourstyx

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so last a few days ago i was in accident where i rolled my car off an embankment and it is totaled. it has already been established by the state patrol and my insurance company that i am not liable and there was nothing i could in the situation.

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By that you mean "I wasn't given a ticket"?

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Quoting fourstyx

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i was on my way to school i live in (rural area) i was coming around a corner and there was large rocks in the road ( this is where detail is important) the rocks being in the road way did not cause me to crash i would have in fact had a more severe accident had they been gone.

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Interesting.

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Quoting fourstyx

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but as i finished going around the corner i hit an oil slick caused from someones oil. i lost complete control of the car.

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Do very few people drive on this road? If the slick were so bad that it would cause a driver to lose all control and go into a ditch, even at a reduced speed, I'm surprised you didn't land on a pile of cars that had already crashed into the ditch.

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Quoting fourstyx

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I only have liability so it wont cover my car and its to hard to sue the dot for the road conditions.

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Especially when there's no reason to believe they knew about the condition at issue or, if given notice, they would have had time to take action.

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Quoting fourstyx

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however i found out who the person that caused the oil on the road was. An hour or two before i came through the area they hit the rocks and took out there oil pan leaving it all over the road, they then went a few miles up the road and got a tow.

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But you said on the other board,

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Quoting fourstyx

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many people said that the oil and rocks had been there long before i crashed

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So this is a very busy road, and people are dropping out of the woodwork to say the oil was there "long" before you crashed - "long" being an hour or two? But only you ended up in the ditch?

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Quoting fourstyx

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many people have told me that the oil had been spilt for hours before i even came across...

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If that's what your witnesses actually say, perhaps the car you claim to have identified as the probable cause of the oil on the roadway is innocent - because "an hour or two" and "for hours" suggest different things. Also, who are these "many people" and how are you finding them?

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Quoting fourstyx

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the state trooper said he got there so fast because he was on a call to pick the rocks up, if i found out when he got the call to clean up the rocks, and it turned out to be long before hand and was just now getting there from negligence i.e he wasnt on another call.

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You don't get to sue the officer because you think he was responding to the report of rocks too slowly. In relation to his general duties, he doesn't owe a duty to you as an individual.

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Quoting fourstyx

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heres what happed, they hit a boulder at least 1 1/2 hours before i came through the area, they drove at least 15 more miles to the next town and then got a tow because the oil leakage was all the way down the highway

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If he was leaking oil for fifteen miles down the highway, there couldn't have been that much oil spilled on the road in the area of the rocks. Also, there is no reason as of yet to believe that the driver knew or should have known that his oil leak was caused by the stones at that point on the road, or that he knew or should have known that there was a dangerous amount of oil on the road in the vicinity of the stones... assuming you first prove that there was. And there's little reason to believe that even if he had told somebody about the oil, that anybody would have had a reasonable opportunity to respond to the scene within that 90 minute window. It took longer, as you note, for the police to be dispatched in relation to the rocks.

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Quoting fourstyx

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are they liable for causing my accident since it was the oil that made me lose control and it wasn't cleaned up by the person and i also found out they dont have insurance

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You're free to sue the driver yourself and to see whether you can convince the court that they caused the oil to be on the road and that your accident resulted from the presence of the oil. Leaving aside the issue of whether even a full five quarts of oil would have caused you (but no other driver) to lose control despite your reduced speed, assuming you win you will have to collect your judgment. Uninsured drivers tend not to have money, but who knows... maybe you'll be lucky.

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Quoting fourstyx

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i would happily settle for the cost of my car, its an old classic that was only made for a few years

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Quoting fourstyx

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they said they would settle if i give a price for how much my car was

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Well then, give them a price and hope that they give you a check. Because your case against them should you take this to court does not seem compelling.

okay well first of all the post on the other forum was from the day after it happened so everything was scrambled as far as what other people and I knew. a couple days later when i posted on here i had a better story than it seemed on the other post. More accruate information.

It is a state route, but it is a small town so essentially everyone knows everyone. I ended up knowing the person and got a confession from them and their nephew that they hit the rock at that spot causing the oil spill and they didn't drive 15 more miles it was about 1 or 2 and then got towed, the 15 miles on the other post came from inaccurate information got from someone. These other witnesses are about 5 other people (like i said a small town) that said that they had also skidded coming through the area. about all 5 quarts of oil spilt where they hit the rock it was the size comparable to about a basketball maybe a little smaller . it busted a huge hole on the oil pan.

i didn't come here looking for some miracle second answer.
i just wanted another opinion and when i tried starting a fresh thread/post on the last forum to sort everything out i got yelled at to keep one topic in one thread.

and where you put "interesting" if the rocks wouldnt have been there i wouldnt have slowed down and would have been going a faster speed into the oil

i would be happy to write out the complete, accurate, up to date story so it could be judged by your opinions if the story on the other post was put aside. i can see how inaccurate information at the time conflicting with this post could seem like it doesnt make sense.

You've already stated that the person is willing to pay you, so what's left to ask?

No, no, no, Aaron, you don't get it.

The poster doesn't want to be paid. He wants to sue someone. He's not going to be happy unless he can pull someone, anyone, doesn't matter who it is, into a courtroom.

Only then will justice have been served. Being paid for the damage isn't enough.

what are you talking about, i only want my damages to be paid the only thing i want to know is if the person who did spill the oil really is liable? i dont want to drag anyone to court. but if i give them the price and they dont like what i say and want to go to court do i have any kind of case?

You've had that question answered now on two sites. You're hoping for a different answer the third time around?

so answer is no? all im looking for is a simple answer. the last forum had inaccurate information and i got yelled at for reposting a better story, now you took what was posted on the last forum and mixed it in with this thread. all i want is with the story that is just in this thread an answer

If you want to know the answer, scroll up and read it. It's right there in plain English.

seriously, its is amazing how ignorant some people are, i all i wanted was answer from what i posted on this forum not someone taking a different thread on a diffrent forum and putting the two together

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Quoting fourstyx

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seriously, its is amazing how ignorant some people are

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That is so true... Now look away from the mirror and move on with your life!

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Quoting fourstyx

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i all i wanted was answer from what i posted on this forum not someone taking a different thread on a diffrent forum and putting the two together

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The FACTS of your case don't change simply because you worded you post differently on a different forum!

I got an accident last year because the city did not clean up the old stop line completely. They put a temp stop sign on the right side of the 4 lanes road and I could not see it from the left most lane. I ended up stopping in the middle of the road for few seconds, waiting for the light, and hit by another car. I told my insurance company, they said it is hard to sue the city (or DOT)....and it was my fault. However, the police understand it and only gave me a fail to yield ticket. The other driver still not settle down with my insurance company yet. The court forgave me and I did not have to pay for the ticket. I just called it bad luck.......