Short answer. Possibly. Article 2191 makes proprietors responsible for damages caused by the falling of trees situated at or near highways or lanes, if not caused by force majeure. So the landowner answers for a roadside tree unless the fall was genuinely the work of an event beyond his control.
What the law says
By the falling of trees situated at or near highways or lanes, if not caused by force majeure
Civil Code, Article 2191 — Other Liabilities of Proprietors. Read the full provision →
Where the trunk stood decides who you are suing
The article reaches trees situated at or near highways or lanes, which is a test of location rather than of species or size. So the first thing to settle is where the trunk actually stood: inside the fenced land of a private owner, on the road shoulder, or on a strip a local government maintains. That single fact decides who the defendant is, and it becomes much harder to establish once the tree has been cut up and hauled away. If it stood on public ground, the claim lies against the body that had that ground under its control.
Force majeure is narrower than “there was a storm”
The proprietor's escape is that the fall was caused by force majeure, and that is a real defence rather than a formality. But a typhoon does not supply it automatically. The question the phrase asks is whether the fall is attributable to the event alone, and a tree that was hollow, dead or visibly leaning for months invites the answer that ordinary weather merely finished what neglect had begun. That is why the condition of the trunk matters as much as the wind speed does, and why the article makes proprietors responsible without your having to identify a particular careless act.
Who counts as the proprietor
Proprietor is the word the article uses, and in the ordinary case it means the owner of the land the tree grew on. Where the tree stood on a street or other public work, the provision that speaks to local government responsibility for the defective condition of roads and other public works under their control or supervision is Article 2189, and the claim then looks quite different. Trees along a road frequently belong to whoever maintains the road rather than to the residents behind them, so do not assume the house nearest the stump is the defendant.
Before the tree is cleared
Photograph the scene before anything is moved: the car, the trunk, the stump, and the fence or boundary showing which side of it the tree grew on. The cut face of the trunk is the evidence that matters most, because rot, hollowing and old damage are visible in it and vanish once the wood is carted off. Record the weather for that day and hour. Then get a repair estimate, and check whether your motor cover extends to falling objects, since Article 2207 subrogates an insurer that indemnifies you to your rights against the wrongdoer.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 2190 — Liability for a Collapsing Building
- Civil Code, Article 2189 — Liability of Local Governments for Defective Roads