Damage caused by a metal bar on the motorway: the operator Is not liable if "fortuitous event" is proven

The case

In 2018, a motorist travelling on a motorway collided with a metal bar approximately 3 metres long, which had fallen moments earlier from a lorry driving ahead of the car.Unable to identify the lorry driver, the car owner filed a lawsuit against the Motorway Consortium, seeking damages under Article 2051 of the Italian Civil Code (c.c.).The Court of Cassation, with Order No. 25079/2024, provided a legal solution to this recurring issue. Reasons for the decisionArticle 2051 c.c. imposes on the custodian the obligation to compensate for damages caused to third parties by the item under their custody, “unless the custodian proves the occurrence of a fortuitous event”, understood as an extraordinary and exceptional occurrence. The rationale is to transfer the economic burden of harmful events to the party benefiting from the item’s availability. In this case, the court-appointed expert's report revealed that the accident occurred because a lorry driving ahead of the claimant’s vehicle had lost the metal sideboard, which the claimant’s car subsequently struck. Specifically, the sequence of events demonstrated the sudden and unpredictable change in the state of the custodian’s property. This fortuitous event effectively broke the causal link, thereby negating the custodian's objective liability. Therefore, the custodian of a publicly accessible road is responsible for original defects, unless it is proven that the suddenness of the alteration made it unreasonable to expect intervention to prevent potential harm. For further reading:- Article 2051 c.c.- Court of Cassation, Order No. 25079/2024- Court of Cassation, Judgment No. 24179/2023