Posted on 08/04/2007 9:14:06 AM PDT by NCjim
Raleigh — One week after a fatal crash shut down Interstate 40 in Wake County, charges are pending against one of the drivers.
One person was killed and five others were injured.
The clean-up costs were in the thousands, officials said. But who should pay the bill? Department of Transportation officials said they want to make sure it’s not the taxpayers.
Troopers say Robert Klimczak's truck started the chain of events that led to the massive crash on July 27. Investigators say Klimczak's pickup truck hit another pickup truck, which collided with a tractor-trailer that crashed through the median, struck other vehicles and burned.
Klimczak was driving with a suspended license, according to state troopers.
“One of the scenarios may have been a blown tire. One of the scenarios might be a lane-change violation,” said 1st Sgt. S.D. Greene. “All the information was gathered by [the reconstruction unit] and the investigating trooper, and it was presented to the district attorney. He’ll review the information that he’s gathered and go from there as far as charges.”
The crash left state transportation crews with a costly repair job.
“It comes out to about $35,000. That’s for pavement, guardrails, traffic control and labor,” said DOT spokesman Ernie Seneca. “It’s taxpayers’ money, and there were damages out there, and we’re trying to recoup.”
State DOT officials said they want the person responsible for the accident to pay. The DOT is well within its rights to try to recoup that money, according to an attorney who spoke with WRAL.
“If he’s found to be negligent or reckless, the applicable standard would be he could be liable for damages,” said attorney John Cargill.
WRAL has learned that Klimczak hired an attorney. His family said there was some type of mix-up concerning his driver’s license.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Yep. Mostly.
bump for later.
When we lived in Japan my wife went off the road and took out a few bushes in a hedge. We had to pay $300-400 for them. The pisser was a few months later, they dug up the entire hedge to widen the road (and no, the plants my wife wrecked hadn’t been replaced).
So you are not for holding people responsible for the damage resulting from their negligence?
If I run my car into your house, I should pay to repair your house.
If I run my car into a guard rail and am required to pay for the guard rail then the state should reimburse the taxpayers. And my point is, that doesn't happen.
Why don't we require heavy haulers to pay for road damages caused by their big rigs?
Because they're charged heavier taxes in anticipation of the damage.
I guess I don't follow your line of thinking. The taxpayers have already paid for said guard rail. If the cost of repairing it after you hit it is $XXXXX, then you should have to pay for that damage so the taxpayers are not stuck paying for the damage YOU caused. Of course, the rail is going to be fixed before you pay a penny towards the cost, but that money should go back into the highway fund to replace the tax money that was expended from YOUR damage.
I really don't see a difference between that and hitting a power pole. You/the ratepayers have already paid for that pole, but they will pay for the replacement as well. So you should have to pay for it...
By your view, if you ran into the front of a state or federal building (or into a police car, or a city buss), you shouldn't have to pay for the damages because your/our tax dollars have already been spent to buy them in the first place, and will be used to fix them.
State highway budgets account for new roads and maintenance of existing roads. They've already got taxpayer money to pay for their estimates.
Part of the budget is based on the damage done by auto crashes. This is an identifiable figure based on the previous year work order categories.
My line of thinking is, if they've already collected money for crash damages, and they then sue drivers for damages caused during an accident, then the state should either pay back the taxpayer or the state should quit forecasting budget money based on auto accidents and simply send everybody a bill for any damages done during an accident.
If you're unhappy with your road conditions and insurance rates now, wait until that happens.
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