Can the county be liable if a broken signal light caused my crash?

Oh man, I had something weirdly similar happen near a construction zone where the temporary signals were totally out of sync. What I learned the hard way is that claims against a city or county are a completely different animal than a normal car accident claim — there are usually super short windows to file a formal notice before you can even sue. Like sometimes as short as 60-90 days depending on where you are. I'd look into that ASAP before anything else.

Not legal advice, but what you're describing — a malfunctioning government-maintained signal combined with a documented history of issues — is exactly the kind of thing that can support a claim against a municipality. The key is proving they had notice of the problem and failed to fix it. Maintenance logs, prior complaint records, even your own testimony about seeing it malfunction before can matter. The timeline for filing against a government entity is often much shorter than a standard personal injury claim, so don't wait on this.

From where I used to sit, the moment there's any possible government liability in a claim, the private insurance side gets really interesting. Adjusters will sometimes use the 'shared fault' angle to lowball you — basically implying you should have known to stop even with a dark signal. Don't let them put all the fault on you just because the other driver had a green. The truck blocking the other signals is actually a really important detail — document everything about where it was parked if you haven't already.

Please do not give a recorded statement yet. I cannot stress this enough. Adjusters are trained to ask questions in ways that get you to say something that sounds like you're accepting fault. 'So you proceeded through the intersection even though you weren't 100% sure of the signal?' Sounds innocent, feels like a trap.

Shoulder injuries from T-bone impacts are really common and they can be deceptive — you might feel like it's manageable now and then inflammation sets in over the next few weeks and it gets significantly worse. Make sure you're seeing a doctor regularly and getting everything documented. Don't downplay symptoms to your medical team even if you feel pressure to just 'push through it.' Your medical records are going to matter a lot for any claim.

I'm so sorry you're going through this on top of recovering from an injury. That sounds incredibly stressful. Please make sure you're not trying to handle all of this alone — even just talking to someone who knows this area of law could take a huge weight off your shoulders (no pun intended 💙).

Not trying to be harsh but I want to make sure I understand the situation — was the light fully dark/out, or just hard to see? Because those are treated pretty differently. Also, were there any witnesses around? Because your account of where the delivery truck was parked is going to be really important and a lot harder to prove without corroboration.

The fact that you already know to hold off on recorded statements and that you're asking these questions now — before you've made any missteps — honestly puts you in a better position than a lot of people in similar situations. A lot of folks don't figure this stuff out until they've already said something they regret. You're ahead of the curve, even if it doesn't feel like it.