The number of road-related tort liability cases in the USA is rising, and the courts across the country are becoming more aware and critical of engineering principles and practices for highway and traffic design, construction, operation, and maintenance. Such lawsuits usually centre on four principal questions: (1) Did a potentially dangerous effect exist? (2) If so, was it a proximate cause of the accident? (3) Did the defendant have actual or constructive knowledge of the hazardous condition? and (4) Did the road user show any contributory negligence? In attempting to answer these questions, US courts have established eight guidelines, which are only general principles, that help to indicate general responsibilities. This paper then discusses relevant concepts of 'risk' and 'risk management'. Five steps in the risk management process are outlined, together with some relevant US legal concepts, including 'tort', negligence', and 'notice of defect'. A risk management system aims to minimise a road agency's total damages from tort liability, and includes crash reduction, loss reduction, defect surveillance, and public relations programmes. The paper also considers simple crash probability calculations, tort liability countermeasures, and three relevant types of highway improvements.
Samenvatting