[OPINION] Who Should Pay for Damage that Occurs on Texas Highways?
Texas highways are constantly under construction, and no one knows this better than Central Texans who drive on I-35.
Construction in Temple has finally been just about completed, but construction in Waco is the worst I've ever seen.
Recently on my evening drive home from Temple to Waco, my car's rim was damaged by a concrete block on the highway. The frustrating thing is that my car was only 1 of 15 cars that had also been damaged.
On I-35, just a short distance between Robinson and Hewitt, the highway had been littered with concrete blocks. Cars began to swerve to avoid the blocks, but unfortunately these blocks were scattered across all 3 lanes.
After pulling off to the side of the highway I was able to assess the damage to my vehicle. "Luckily" the rim to my tire is the only thing that was damaged. The car immediately behind me had lost its oil pan, and the car was smoking. Some of the cars involved had spun out into a field, and others all the way across the field and onto the access road.
Authorities arrived on the scene and collected the concrete blocks, but explained that they would not be making any crash reports because technically there were no collisions that involved vehicles hitting one another.
Officers advised those involved to make a claim with their insurance, but really that's the last thing that most of us want to do.
Personally, I was livid. Why would I make a claim to my insurance, who will in turn just raise my rates for something I had no control over. I pay taxes for the roads to be fixed, right? When areas under major construction become a hazard for drivers on the road shouldn't the state be responsible?