Man's car totalled on West Street? Who is liable for this damage? Will the City of Eureka or the out of town construction company pay?

                                                        Photos by Steve Payton


Steve Payton, a local bail agent said yesterday his son, Steven Jr, was on his way to church. "He was  driving northbound on West Street, near 18th street, where he encountered a bunch of loose gravel in the roadway. The car lost traction causing him to run into a retaining wall."

Due to privacy reasons, I am not listing the address of the residence.

"The car is a total loss," said Mr. Payton. "Luckily the airbag deployed and he walked away with just a bruised knee.  The street had just been resurfaced with asphalt slurry. They had door hangers with this information from the City of Eureka."

The work was not performed by the City of Eureka but by Sierra Nevada Construction Company. Mr. Payton spoke with a representative from the Sacramento office and was given an incident report to fill out. Today, when Mr. Payton was driving by Zane Middle School, he saw a Sierra Nevada Construction crew cleaning up the street with the City of Eureka employees supervising. Mr. Payton went to City Hall and spoke with City Clerk Pam Powell. She gave him a claim form to fill out.