DEVELOPMENT OF A PRELIMINARY TORT LIABILITY DATABASE SYSTEM
J E Disbro, J E Bryden · 1992
Increasing awards against the New York State Department of Transportation cover a wide range of contributing elements to settlements for alleged damages. Recognizing the need to know more about these claims, an investigation was undertaken, with the results reported here. The objectives were: 1) to establish a system to categorize claims, 2) to classify the elements involved in them, 3) to identify legal concepts cited in resulting decisions, and 4) to identify particular high-risk areas. Although circumstances dictated early termination of the study, the first two goals were accomplished. A database was developed to assign claims to specific categories, which classifies the Department's functions, highway features, and operational elements involved. A user-friendly data management system was organized for tort liability categories and is appended.