More on Those Potholes

The absurdly ridiculous potholes are bad enough to deal with. Even worse, if they are on a street without marked bicycle lanes, we are SOL in holding the city accountable.

From Lawyer Jim:

In such an instance [injury resulting from hitting a pothole] there is no recourse against a city or county unless the pothole is located in a marked bicycle lane or along a marked bicycle route. This is a result of the Tort Immunity Act, as interpreted through the infamous case of Boub v. Wayne Township.
...
The end result is that cities, counties and governmental entities cannot be sued by bicyclists for defects on roadways that are not designated for use by bicycles through marked bicycle routes or bike lanes, such as the pothole on Chicago Avenue. There are some efforts in the works to change the effects of this decision, however, any real change is probably years away at the least. In the meantime cyclists must be cautious of defects in the roadways. Go around potholes.


Read the whole thing. We are not "intended" users of the road? Isn't that nice.