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Road hazard motorcycle
crash lawyers.

A pothole, oil slick, or unmarked debris took you down. When a government agency is responsible, you have just six months to file. We act immediately.

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Road hazard crashes

A pothole a car ignores can put a rider down.

Potholes, spilled gravel, oil slicks, broken pavement, debris, and improperly marked construction zones pose a fundamentally different level of danger to motorcycles than to cars. A hazard a four-wheeled vehicle drives over without incident can cause total loss of traction on two wheels — resulting in a high-side or low-side crash with no crumple zone or seatbelt to soften the impact.

When the hazard exists on a government-maintained road — a city street, county road, or state highway — California Government Code § 835 allows recovery if the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition and failed to fix it within a reasonable time. Prior 311 complaints, repair records, and how long the hazard existed are often decisive.

The deadline for government claims is dramatically shorter than ordinary personal injury cases. Government Code § 911.2 requires a formal administrative claim within just six months of the incident — miss it, and the claim is permanently barred in nearly all circumstances. This is the single most important deadline in any road hazard case, and it is why we move immediately.

When a private contractor created the hazard — an uncovered trench, misplaced construction materials, an unmarked work zone — that contractor may be separately liable under the standard two-year statute of limitations. We investigate every potential defendant. Contact us today — the six-month clock is already running.

Step-by-step

What to do after a road hazard crash.

The hazard that caused your crash can be repaired within days once it's reported. Documenting it immediately is critical.

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1
At the scene — immediate
Photograph the hazard from multiple angles.

Photograph the pothole, gravel, oil slick, or debris that caused your crash — including its size, depth, and location relative to lane markings and any warning signage (or lack of it). This may be your only chance before it's repaired.

2
At the scene
Call 911 and get a police report.

Get the officer's name, badge number, and report number. Ask that the report specifically document the road condition, not just the collision.

3
At the scene
Get witness contacts and note nearby cameras.

Anyone who saw the crash or the road condition beforehand is valuable. Note any traffic cameras or nearby businesses with surveillance that may have captured your crash.

4
Same day
See a doctor even if you feel okay.

Loss-of-traction crashes often result in a hard fall. Adrenaline can mask serious injury. A same-day visit establishes the medical record your claim depends on.

5
Within days
Preserve your motorcycle exactly as it is.

Damage consistent with a loss-of-traction event — scrape patterns, tire marks — helps establish that a road defect, not rider error, caused the crash. Don't repair anything until we've documented it.

6
As soon as possible
Call Law Dog immediately — the government deadline is short.

If a government entity is responsible, you have just six months to file a formal claim. We identify the correct agency, file the compliant claim, submit public records requests for prior complaints about the same hazard, and preserve the physical evidence before repairs happen.

Common injuries

Loss of traction means
a hard, unbraced fall.

Road hazard crashes often happen with no warning and no opportunity to brace, producing a distinct pattern of injury.

Road Rash
A sudden slide across pavement following a loss of traction produces abrasion injuries ranging from minor to severe, sometimes requiring skin grafts.
Fractures
Wrist, collarbone, ankle, and hip fractures are common when a rider goes down suddenly with little time to control the fall.
Traumatic Brain Injury
A sudden, unexpected crash from loss of traction often results in head impact even with a helmet. Cognitive symptoms should be evaluated regardless of how minor the impact felt.
Spinal Injuries
High-side crashes, in particular, can violently eject a rider and produce serious spinal trauma requiring imaging and specialist evaluation.
Shoulder & Collarbone Injuries
Riders often land on the shoulder during an unbraced fall, causing separations, fractures, and rotator cuff damage.
Internal Injuries
Blunt torso impact from being thrown from the bike can rupture the spleen or cause internal bleeding not immediately apparent. Prompt imaging is essential.
What they don't want you to know

Government agencies fight these claims hard.

Government defense counsel and their insurers use a distinct set of tactics in road hazard cases. Here's what to expect.

Tactic 01
"We had no notice of the condition."
Government entities routinely claim they didn't know about a hazard. We use public records requests to obtain 311 complaint histories, prior repair orders, and maintenance logs for the exact location — evidence that frequently proves the entity had constructive notice under Government Code § 835.
Tactic 02
"You should have avoided the hazard."
This argument assumes hazards are always visible with enough time to react — often false at night, in poor weather, or when a hazard is only apparent at the last second. We document actual visibility conditions, not idealized ones.
Tactic 03
Technical rejection of the claim form
Government claims have strict procedural requirements, and agencies sometimes reject claims on technical grounds — a missing detail, an incorrect form, the wrong department. We file compliant claims correctly the first time to avoid this trap entirely.
Tactic 04
Repairing the hazard before it's documented
Once a hazard is reported, agencies often repair it quickly — sometimes within days — eliminating the physical evidence. This is exactly why photographing the hazard immediately is critical, before any repair crew arrives.
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Questions & answers

Road hazard crash FAQ.

Yes, under California Government Code § 835, a public entity is liable for injury caused by a dangerous condition of public property if the entity had actual or constructive notice of the condition and failed to correct it within a reasonable time. Constructive notice means the condition existed long enough that the entity should have discovered it through reasonable inspection. Prior complaints or repair records showing the entity knew about the hazard significantly strengthen these claims.
Six months from the date of the incident under Government Code § 911.2 — far shorter than the standard two-year deadline for claims against private parties. You must first file a formal administrative claim with the specific government entity before any lawsuit can proceed. Missing this six-month window permanently bars the claim in nearly all circumstances.
If a private construction company created the hazard, that contractor may be liable directly, separate from any government claim, and the standard two-year statute of limitations under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 applies to that contractor. Many road hazard cases involve both a government entity and a private contractor, and we pursue both where the facts support it.
A pothole, patch of gravel, or oil slick that a car simply drives over without incident can cause a motorcycle to lose traction entirely, resulting in a high-side or low-side crash. Riders have no crumple zone, no seatbelt, and often no warning before losing control. This vulnerability supports both the severity of damages and, in some cases, the argument that a hazard posed a foreseeably greater risk to two-wheeled vehicles.
Photographs of the hazard itself taken as soon as possible, the police report, witness statements, any prior 311 complaints or repair records for that location, photographs of your bike's damage consistent with a loss-of-traction event, and accident reconstruction analysis. We move quickly to document the hazard before it can be repaired or disappear.
You should document the hazard and the crash immediately and contact an attorney as soon as possible. Because the government claim deadline is only six months — and because the specific administrative claim process varies by entity — early legal involvement is critical to filing a compliant, timely claim and preserving all available evidence before the hazard is repaired.
Time limit

Six months to file. Repairs happen in days.

Government Code § 911.2 gives you just six months from the crash date to file a formal administrative claim against the responsible public entity — far shorter than the standard two-year window for claims against private parties. If a private contractor was responsible, the standard two-year deadline under CCP § 335.1 applies instead. Road hazards are often repaired within days of being reported, so the physical evidence disappears fast. The sooner we start, the more we can document.

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