Legal Question in Personal Injury in Arizona

Who is responsible for road debris?

While riding my motorcycle on the highway, a vehicle in front of me ran over a piece of shredded tire that was in the middle of the road. The piece of tire shot back and slammed into my front tire, causing me to lose control and crash. I sustained no serious injury, but have a nice case of road rash. Is the state or municipality responsible for clearing debris from the road, or do we all drive/ride at our own risk?


Asked on 4/30/02, 2:09 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Aspinwall Charles S. Aspinwall, J.D., LLC

Re: Who is responsible for road debris?

There are certain inherent risks in operating any motor vehicle on a highway, particularly a motorcycle. One of those is the risk that another vehicle may throw debris from the roadway into the following vehicle as in your case. The highway department can hardly keep up with cleaning the roads minute by minute, so the risk is assumed by operators such as yourself, and in the absence of proveable negligence on someone's part which caused you injury this one is on you.

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Answered on 4/30/02, 10:39 am


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