🚧 Municipal Responsibility for Roads: Who Pays in Case of an Accident?

🌍 1. Why Is This Important?

The municipality is responsible for the safety of roads, sidewalks, and bike paths it maintains. But what happens if you fall because of a pothole or a defective sidewalk?

⚖️ 2. The Legal Basis

The municipality’s liability is based on two major principles of civil law:

👉 Liability of the custodian of a thing: whoever has custody of an asset (here, the roadway) is liable if it presents a danger.
👉 Liability for fault: if the municipality neglects maintenance or delays in taking action, it may be held responsible.

In short: the municipality must regularly maintain its roads and ensure the safety of users.

🕳️ 3. What Is a Road Defect?

A defect is not just a simple irregularity of the ground… It must constitute an abnormal danger:

🚲 Deep pothole,
🧱 Wobbly sidewalk slab,
🚦 Missing or inconsistent signage,
🍂 Road made dangerous by gravel or accumulated leaves.

⚠️ Small, ordinary imperfections in a road are not enough to trigger liability.

✅ 4. When Is the Municipality Liable?

Three elements must be present:

A defect in the roadway,
Damage (injury or property damage),
A causal link between the two.

🙅‍♂️ The municipality may escape liability if:

the defect was unforeseeable or had just appeared,
the victim committed a serious fault (e.g., speeding, riding a bike without lights).

🤝 5. Sharing Responsibility

Courts often split responsibility:

Example: a cyclist falls because of a pothole but was riding without lights → the municipality is liable, but compensation is reduced.

📸 6. How to Prove the Defect?

The victim must prove the existence of the danger. Useful evidence includes:

📷 Photos or videos,
👮 Police report,
👀 Witness statements,
🛠️ Expert report.

💡 Practical tip: the sooner you document the situation, the stronger your evidence will be.

📚 7. Some Practical Cases

Courts have already held municipalities liable for:

an unstable sidewalk slab,
a deep pothole left unrepaired,
lack of signage during roadworks.

But sometimes, victims only obtain partial compensation if they themselves were careless.

🏁 8. Conclusion

The municipality has a duty of safety toward road users 🚧.
But users must also remain cautious 🚶🚴🚗.

👉 Victims: document and gather evidence.
👉 Municipalities: maintain, signal, prevent.

✉️ Have you been the victim of an accident caused by a road defect? You can contact me to receive tailored legal assistance for your situation.