Uncovered County Pipes Caused a Crash in Alabama: Claiming Against the County

Attorney Answer

A claim against an Alabama county has its own deadline: it must be presented to the county within 12 months, and damages against a county are capped by statute. Whether the county is responsible for leaving the pipes uncovered depends on facts you can start preserving now: who did the work, how long the pipes were exposed, and whether anything warned drivers. There is a second claim here too, against the truck driver who forced you off the road.

The county's deadline. Ala. Code § 11-12-8:

All claims against counties must be presented for allowance within 12 months after the time they accrue or become payable or the same are barred, unless it be a claim due to a minor or to a lunatic, who may present such claim within 12 months after the removal of such disability.

Twelve months is the county rule. A city's is six months under Ala. Code § 11-47-23, so make sure which government did the work.

The cap. Counties are “governmental entities” under Ala. Code § 11-93-1(1):

(1) GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY. Any incorporated municipality, any county, and any department, agency, board, or commission of any municipality or county, municipal or county public corporations, and any such instrumentality or instrumentalities acting jointly.

And Ala. Code § 11-93-2 limits what can be recovered from one:

The recovery of damages under any judgment against a governmental entity shall be limited to $100,000.00 for bodily injury or death for one person in any single occurrence. Recovery of damages under any judgment or judgments against a governmental entity shall be limited to $300,000.00 in the aggregate where more than two persons have claims or judgments on account of bodily injury or death arising out of any single occurrence. Recovery of damages under any judgment against a governmental entity shall be limited to $100,000.00 for damage or loss of property arising out of any single occurrence. No governmental entity shall settle or compromise any claim for bodily injury, death or property damage in excess of the amounts hereinabove set forth.

Whether the county is responsible. That turns on the county's duty for the condition it left in the ditch, and on what it knew or should have known. Those are questions of fact a lawyer will look into: work orders, how long the excavation was open, whether there were barriers or warnings, and whether the pipes sat where a car leaving the road could be expected to go. The evidence that answers them disappears quickly once the work is finished.

The truck that left. Alabama requires a driver involved in an accident to stop and give information, under Ala. Code § 32-10-1. If the truck is never identified, your own uninsured motorist coverage, if you carry it, is the coverage designed for a driver who cannot be made to pay. Whether it reaches a driver who was never found depends on your policy's terms, so report the crash to your insurer and ask.

Alabama's harshest rule still applies. Alabama is a contributory negligence state: a claimant whose own negligence helped cause the injury recovers nothing at all, not a reduced share. Two limits travel with it. It is a defense the other side must plead and prove, and simple heedlessness is not enough to establish it as a matter of law. And it is no defense at all to wanton conduct. Expect the county, and any insurer, to look closely at your speed and control on the curve.

What you can do

1. Photograph the ditch, the excavation and the exposed pipes now, before the site changes, along with the curve and the road.

2. Get the police report, and give the police everything you remember about the truck.

3. Report the crash to your own insurer, and ask whether your uninsured motorist coverage applies to a driver who fled.

4. Keep the tow and storage records, the repair or total-loss paperwork, and every medical record.

5. Speak to an Alabama lawyer about presenting the claim to the county well inside the 12 months.

6. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Alabama attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A claim against the county must be presented within 12 months under Ala. Code § 11-12-8. A lawsuit must be brought within two years under Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l): “All actions for any injury to the person or rights of another not arising from contract and not specifically enumerated in this section must be brought within two years.”