My brother lives on a dead-end street. At the cross street there is massive construction going on. The company doing the construction has apparently done little to keep the roadway clear of gravel, debris, dirt, etc… On top of that, the workers routinely wave traffic through but do not shut down their equipment which is blowing said dirt, gravel, and debris. Because of the dead end he has no option but to drive through that area.
As a result he showed me all sorts of chips, scratches, and dings on his car which is fairly new. A rock got somehow wedged between the wheel and tire, scratching up the wheel and putting a non-repairable slit in the sidewall of the tire.
He’s a lot more calm over this than I would be! I’d be incensed if my car sustained that kind of damage due to these clods.
But I’m wondering if he has any chance of getting anything with legal action. Or would it just be a waste of his time/money?
If this was my vehicle, I would be tempted to test the water with the construction company to determine how agreeable they may be in accepting liability for the damage. Remember however, your brother has the burden of proof to demonstrate the construction company is at fault and they could easily take the position the damage occurred elsewhere. Any other vehicles damage on this dead end street? More than one claimant going against this company could add some validity to the matter.
If your brother feels it’s worthwhile, he could claim this with his insurance carrier and it would be up to them to make the call whether to pursue subrogation against the construction company or not.
Another option is to go after the construction company’s client. At the very least the client might apply some pressure and get the construction company to clean up it’s act. Failing that, there’s local code enforcement.