The existing caselaw contains a sufficient number of judgments awarding compensation for financial (and even moral) damage caused by car crashes and resulting repair due to negligence of authorities responsible for the maintenance of motor roads in proper condition.

Director of Drozdova & Partners Law Firm Ms Olena Drozdova has formulated this opinion in her interview to SEGODNIA newspaper, with a reservation that the affected person has to make certain efforts to succeed.

The expert has pointed out that in a similar situation one should proceed from the premise that, according to applicable law, no damage can be compensated unless all components of a civil offence are present:

– illegal behaviour, action or omission of a person;

– adverse effect of such behaviour — damages;

– casual relation between illegal behaviour and damages; and

– an offender’s guilt.

‘Therefore, every action should be taken to collect and have registered information on the four components mentioned above,’ Ms Drozdova advises.

First thing you should to do is to call the police. They will evaluate the severity of damages caused to the car, inspect the roadway, and establish the reason of the traffic incident. ‘Those facts, when documented by police officers, will provide a basis for proving in court the civil offence by road management services and, which is even more important, the casual relation between the condition of the road and the damage to the car, the lawyer points out. The courts tend to dismiss claims if no such relation is proved.’

Olena is convinced that the affected person should take additional steps to assist the police, in particular, to engage witnesses, to measure the depth of the pothole, and to take overview and detailed pictures of the road. Ms Drozdova recommends that such actions be taken immediately to ensure maximum capture of all possible evidence.

And, of course, it is necessary to identify the person liable. Poor road quality is the result of negligence shown by road management authorities that are responsible for maintaining road surface in proper condition. But what are those authorities? The Uniform Rules of Repair and Maintenance of Motor Ways, Streets, and Railway-Crossings, approved by Cabinet’s Resolution No. 198 of 30 March 1994, specify that principal roads fall within the responsibility of Ukravtodor (Ukrainian State Agency of Motor Way). Responsibility for the condition of local roads in the communal property lies with the municipally owned road operation companies. In reality, those authorities and organisations often delegate their obligations to repair and maintain roads in proper condition to commercial structures, which further assign the performance of such obligations to their subsidiaries.