Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- John Winder says his car was damaged by a flying construction barrel in Draper.
- UDOT compensated Winder after acknowledging the error in identifying the responsible party.
SANDY — If someone damages your car, you'd expect them to pay for the damage. But what if the damage was caused by an orange construction barrel – who is responsible to cover the repairs?
A Sandy man turned to Get Gephardt for answers.
Damaged by an orange barrel
John Winder said he was driving on 11400 South in Draper last August when an orange construction barrel flew into his car.
"The barrel blew right into my car," Winder recalled. "Right into the fender."
It didn't cause a ton of damage, but scratches are certainly visible and a front panel on his car was knocked a bit askew. Winder took it to a body shop.
"Their bid was $1,970," he said of the repair costs.
Claims denied
Winder was driving on 11400 South when it happened. That portion of the road is managed by the state (state Route 175), so he submitted a claim for his repairs to the Utah Department of Transportation. He got back a denial, with UDOT pointing the finger at Granite Construction, a company it said was doing work on the road at the time. Winder would need to go to Granite for reimbursement.
He did and got rebuffed for a second time.
"They (Granite Construction) said, 'Well, we weren't working there that day,'" Winder said.
Somebody was responsible for the orange barrel being on the road that day, and it sure wasn't Winder.
"I feel like I'm getting the run around," he said.
With everyone denying responsibility and fearful the cost of the repairs would fall on his shoulders, he decided it was time to call me.
"Who do you think is responsible?" I asked Winder.
"I don't know," he answered. "It's either the state or Granite."
Who is liable?
But neither party is responsible, said UDOT spokesperson John Gleason.
"When you reached out, we took the opportunity to look back on the information," Gleason told KSL. "And unfortunately, we provided incorrect information to Mr. Winder."
While UDOT told Winder that it was Granite Construction's project on 11400th South, it was another company out there doing road work that day.
"It was actually a permit job," Gleason explained. "An unrelated contractor — somebody that didn't have anything to do with UDOT."
Typically, when one of its barrels gets loose, UDOT does not take responsibility for the ensuing damage, Gleason said.
"It's typically seen as something that's naturally occurring," he said.
An unexpected outcome
But in this case, even though it wasn't even a UDOT barrel, the department opted to step up after sending Winder on a wild goose chase.
"We could ask him to go back and file with the proper company now," Gleason said. "But it's six months after the fact and that just wouldn't be right. So, we want to do right by Mr. Winder and make sure that he's taken care of."
And just like that, many months after filing a claim with UDOT, Winder got a check in the mail to cover the damage caused by a flying construction barrel.
So happy about the outcome, Winder broke out in a song on his banjo that goes a little like this:
"An orange barrel hit my car, hit my car, hit my car…
So, I called Matt Gephardt, Matt Gephardt, Matt Gephardt and he got my car fixed."
You should know
Whether it's an orange construction barrel or a pothole, government entities are generally immune from liability for "acts of nature."
That said, if they are aware of a problem and fail to address it, it could be considered negligence, in which case they could be held responsible.
And if the barrel is a construction company's responsibility, the company often has insurance to cover such accidents.
Best advice if this happens to you: If you can do so safely, pull over and take lots of pictures.
