Vehicles dodge a pothole on North Milwaukee Avenue near West Diversey Avenue in April. In Chicago, drivers whose cars broke down when they hit a pothole can file a claim with the city. The City Council reviews and resolves such claims and approves orders for payment of damages. .
Tyler Pasciak LaRivière/Sun-Times
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled this month that the city of Chicago is not liable for injuries suffered by a cyclist who hit a pothole in 2019 because the road was not “intended” for cyclists.
Clark Alave filed a lawsuit against the town that year after allegedly hitting a 5-inch-deep pothole near Western and Leland avenues in Lincoln Square. Alave fractured his teeth and suffered cuts to his face, scars, and injuries to his hip and shoulder. .
He accused the city of negligence, claiming it failed to make it to the road. The lawsuit was dismissed by the Cook County Circuit Court in July 2021, and an appeals court later overturned that ruling and upheld the lawsuit.
But in a Dec. 14 opinion, the state Supreme Court ruled that bicyclists are only “authorized” road users, “intentional” users, unless there is express signage or there are motorcycle lanes.
And since there was no such signage at the location where Alave hit the pothole, the city isn’t liable, the opinion said.
Chicago’s Municipal Code allows bicyclists to ride on city streets, but “this means that the city intended bicyclists to use all of the city’s roadways that motorists are expected to use,” the ice said.
In affirming the circuit court’s ruling, the Supreme Court concluded that “bicycling was not both a permitted and intended use of the subject roadway at the accident site.”
The cycling advocacy group Ride Illinois filed amicus briefs in support of the plaintiff.
Dave Simmons, executive director of Ride Illinois, said in an interview with Capitol News Illinois that he was “frustrated” with the court ruling.
“There’s some accountability, and the fact that motorcycles (not intended users) are allowed on the road just thwarts our efforts to make biking, and therefore walking, something that other people can use to get around or enjoy,” Simmons said. . .