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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Bikes City Pays $20,000 to Cyclist Injured by Sewer Cover

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 4:56 PM

Picture_18.png
When the city's streets go poorly paved, we all pay—literally.

This week, City Council approved a $20,000 settlement to Portlander James Golleher, who broke his elbow after crashing his bike on a sewer cover (right) that had sunken below the street grade out on SE 78th and Henderson.

City Attorney David Landrum explains that these type of sewer caps settle down into the street surface over time. It had been decades since the city had repaved the outer Southeast street of the offending sewer cap, so it had sunk down several inches to become a dangerous pothole.

A study from OHSU last year found that poor roadways were responsible for 20 percent of crashes in Portland.

"We don't have a systematic street inspection program to look for potholes," says Landrum. Instead, the city relies on citizens calling in street problems. That's kind of sad, but if you see any kind of road problem, report it at 503-823-BUMP before someone else breaks an elbow.

 

Comments (18) RSS

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1
"When the city's street go poorly paved, we call pay—literally."

I can't literally call-pay you. Unless you take my debit card number over the phone.
Posted by Fruit Cup on September 29, 2011 at 4:58 PM · Report
2
@FC,
You can call-pay in as Blogtown copy editor any time you want. 503-294-0840, one penny paid per typo found. Salary paid in bags of pennies.
Posted by s.mirk on September 29, 2011 at 5:06 PM · Report
3
Excellent! Coincidentally, with a little help from your articles on the subject, I found a credit union that doesn't charge to deposit change. A sweet bag of pennies is always welcome at my new bank!
Posted by Fruit Cup on September 29, 2011 at 5:10 PM · Report
4
I wonder how much the biker got as opposed to the ambulance chaser that no undoubtably represented him.
When using all of our roads you have to be aware for potholes, etc. Roads deteriorate.
So we all get stuck with the bill because this dumbass wasn't looking where he was going.
I would bet the city just paid the 20 grand because to fight it would have cost more than just paying it out.
Posted by frankieb on September 29, 2011 at 5:27 PM · Report
5
Uh, that's not a 'sewer cover' in the photo, its a water valve cover.
Posted by randyzpdx on September 29, 2011 at 5:47 PM · Report
6
Meh. I'm okay with this. The armchair masses have no idea what conditions led to the crash. The people who were actually obligated to look at the evidence chose to give the person a payout that's probably in proportion to medical bills and lost work time. Meanwhile, it's a reasonable incentive to the City to keep a better eye on our shitty streets.

Also, the Water Bureau probably manages some wastewater, (i.e. sewer) facilities, so it's also reasonable that a sewer cover would say "water."

All in all, I AM NOT IRATE ABOUT ANYTHING SO FUCKING CHEERS AND GOOD GODDAMN DAY!

And I didn't catch any typos. Because I enjoy life too much to proof-read blogs.
Posted by Night Moves on September 29, 2011 at 6:44 PM · Report
7
On the back of your new $25 per year Adult bike operators license will be the following. "Biking is an assumed risk activity ... "

You will also be required to have $30,000 in insurance.
Posted by Rosy on September 29, 2011 at 7:16 PM · Report
8
If only that guy had been carrying a copy of that new history of the Portland Water Bureau while he rode, it might have fallen first and cushioned his elbow.

(I know, it's not out yet, and it's technically an updated version, first published 28 years ago. Don't push details in front of my jokes.)

http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhal…
Posted by Todd Mecklem on September 29, 2011 at 7:37 PM · Report
9
Yup, water valve cover -- hence the "W" and the blue marking paint.
Posted by Paul Cone on September 30, 2011 at 8:03 AM · Report
10
interesting. One of my bike routes has about four sunken pothole covers.
Posted by BruceWang on September 30, 2011 at 8:37 AM · Report
11
@Night Moves. +2
Posted by * on September 30, 2011 at 9:29 AM · Report
12
That seems ridiculous to me. Who told that guy he has a right to flawlessly smooth roads? Does he pay 80% income tax, in order to fund the work that dream would require? It's dangerous and lumpy outside in the real world - and that's nobody's fault, that's just life!
Posted by Reymont on September 30, 2011 at 9:44 AM · Report
13
@ Nightmoves +1
@ frankieb, it's not too hard to figure out: the lawyer almost certainly was paid 1/3 of the $20K.

If you think that's extravagant, try writing a letter to the City Attorney explaining how nearly the exact same thing happened to you, and enclose your nearly identical medical records and bills, and then ask the city to pay.

Whatever the difference is between what the city offers you (that would be zero) and $20K is the value that "ambulance chaser" added for his/her client.

And just like you don't understand how lawyers work, you also don't understand how litigation works: "I would bet the city just paid the 20 grand because to fight it would have cost more than just paying it out."

Believe me, this is false. For all the noise about "nuisance lawsuits," every day, insurance companies, corporations and municipalities will spend 2-3 times+ the value of a case to defend them, a) because they don't understand the case, and b) because they don't want to encourage exactly the scenario you imagine exists.

Like Night Moves correctly noted, the people who will be held accountable for this decision made it very, very carefully, and they would not have approved the offer in the first place if they didn't think it was a completely defensible position factually/legally/politically.

Would you offer $20K to someone you didn't believe was entitled to it? Guess what? No one else does, either.

Posted by Commenty Colin on September 30, 2011 at 10:37 AM · Report
14
Wow, that's funny Colon, because from what I read personal injury lawyers rake in 45-60% plus related expenses.
So you are full of shit there...
And I can recall reading in the paper about the Council paying out a lawsuit they thought they could win, but it was cheaper to pay it out rather than pay the lawyers fees.
I'll try to find it later. But wouldn't that make some sense too? Rather than spend extra taxpayer money fighting a lawsuit?
Watch where you are going on yer bike. I do. He obviously didn't.
Posted by frankieb on September 30, 2011 at 11:52 AM · Report
15
Wow, read 13 and then 14 and tell who you think has a job and who lives in his mom's basement.
Posted by Chickenfucker on September 30, 2011 at 11:58 AM · Report
16
Oh frankieb, so much second-hand embarrassment for you. Good luck, mouth breather.
Posted by Try 33%, you yokel. on September 30, 2011 at 5:48 PM · Report
17
http://www.dailywhirl.com/how-much-does-a-…

"When you hire a personal injury attorney you can safely assume that his fee will be 33% of your settlement. However, this does not include any of the expenses associated with the suit, only the attorney fee. Realistically you can expect to spend 45 – 60% of your settlement on your attorney and all the related expenses associated with your case."

33% or more likely, over 50%, the point is we are all paying for some dumbass who couldn't watch where he was biking.
Posted by frankieb on September 30, 2011 at 6:20 PM · Report
18
On one hand, there's someone who knows what they're talking about and is well spoken. On the other hand there's someone with a shoddy link from a 3rd rate website and poor sentence structure. I grasp at straws who to believe.
Posted by Fruit Cup on September 30, 2011 at 11:56 PM · Report

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