Legal Question in Personal Injury in Ohio

A municipality has a duty to keep its road in a safe, drivable condition. Therefore, a municipality must remove unsafe, dangerous conditions that present a risk to the motoring public.

However, in order to recover damages from a fallen tree, the plaintiff (you) must prove that the municipality had actual or constructive notice of a danger that the tree would fall. Put differently, the city must have known or should have know (had it taken reasonable inspections) that the dead tree constituted an imminent danger that was likely to fall.

Proving actual or constructive knowledge can be difficult, but not impossible. Municipalities keep records of site inspections or repairs. They also keep records of calls from neighbors who may have called to report that the tree was a dangerous condition. Pictures from the accident scene could be used to show that the tree was so old, dead, or overgrown that the municipality should have known it was a danger to motorists.

Good luck.