SOOOOO near my house they are doing repaving on the main roads in Washington State. The man hole/sewer covers and other utilities are all raised easily about 4-6 inches above normal road height. I did a good job dodging most of them. Every car in front and behind me were swerving all over the lanes to avoid them. They're almost impossible to see at night time and of course..BOOMSHAKALAKA!!

I hit one going about 20 mph and as soon as i hit it on my front passenger side, my steering alignment was completely off and something was scraping underneath my car. It seems to still steer correctly..but the alignment is so bad. Underneath my plastic skid plate, some flat piece of metal about the thickness of a quarter is hanging and scraping...Any idea as to what could have happened? And maybe what steps I could possibly take to get my city or county to help with this? Thanks for the help!! and leave the ignorant and smart-*** comments to yourself!!

 

Hey, the city can be held liable for damage to your car, get a lawyer.

 

No lawyer is going to take you case for ~$500 worth of damage. Get it looked at and see if there is anything more substantial. If so, judge for yourself if it's worth the hassle and headache to deal with your local municipality. Do some research on line regarding this for your city or make a few calls to your dpw. Even then, if they say they'll take care of the bill, you'll be waiting a while to be paid.

 

I find it hard to believe the local government would take responsibility. Did you have a police report done? If you did/do you will be found at fault for driving too fast for conditions. Just like hitting a foreign object on the freeway.

 

There were a lot of cars swerving and dodging them at the same speed. I was driving with the flow of traffic

 

First, go back to where the incident happened and take pictures of the road. Also take pictures of the damage that was done to your car. Get an estimate then call your local dpw. If they are negligent and it sounds like they are they should be held liable.

 

Was there cones set up?

 

They won't, which is usually why the construction crew puts up a sign that reads "road under construction, drive at your own risk" which tends to alleviate responsibility since you don't NEED to drive down that particular road.



As for what damage is done, it's hard to say without seeing pics. Most of the critical parts (oil pan, trans pan) are held up high.

Is your car lowered? Most manhole frames are only 3" tall at most.

 

I really doubt manhole covers were above 4". Ohio requires larger en 2" to temporarily close the road...

You are able to get money back if you talk to the local courts. I work in construction and have output thousands towards broken windshields and flat low pro tires. It's in the cities budget.

 

Found out that my county has insurance for these kind of things. I just need to send a picture of the damage and where it occurred. I took a visit to the area yesterday and the manhole cover was pretty high up. and no surrounding cement to make the transition of driving over it comfortable or safe. The only sign showed "Construction Ahead" "Motorcycles use caution" which was at the beginning where the construction is taking place. The street I came out of was in the middle of the construction and had no signs or cones. Just the Mount Everest of Manhole covers lol

 

its your car lowered?

 

When you repair, I would recommend replacing the plastic skid plate with an aluminum undercarriage tray from Tollboothwilley on this site. Much better protection and has a small plate that is easily removable for oil changes. You will see many satisfied customers in his thread.