§ 12.44.150. Liability for damage to highways and bridges.

Any person operating any vehicle or moving any object or conveyance upon any public highway in the county or upon any bridge or elevated structure which is a part of any such public highway shall be liable for all damages which said public highway, bridge or elevated structure may sustain as a result of any illegal operation of such vehicle or the moving of any such object or as a result of the operation or moving of any vehicle, object or conveyance weighing in excess of the legal weight limits allowed by law. This section shall apply to any person operating any vehicle or moving any object or contrivance in any illegal or negligent manner or without a special permit as by law provided for vehicles, objects or contrivances of overweight, overlength, overwidth or overheight. Any person operating any vehicle shall be liable for any damage to any public highway, bridge or elevated structure sustained as a result of any negligent operation thereof. When such operator is not the owner of such vehicle, object or contrivance but is so operating or moving the same with the express or implied permission of the owner thereof, then said owner and the operator shall be jointly and severally liable for any such damage. Such damage to any county highway or structure may be recovered in a civil action instituted in the name of the county of Thurston by the board of county commissioners. Any measure of damage to any public highway determined by the county engineer by reason of this section shall be prima facie the amount of damage caused thereby and shall be presumed to be the amount recoverable in any civil action therefor.

(Ord. 3748, 1968)