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Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Kingcreek on July 24, 2018, 12:18:27 PM

Title: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: Kingcreek on July 24, 2018, 12:18:27 PM
https://www.bnd.com/news/state/illinois/article215412010.html
So a motorcyclist hits a pothole, is thrown from his bike and struck by another vehicle and dies. Chicago settles with family for $4 million. Seems like it would be cheaper to fix potholes but the broken city is plagued with potholes and various other hazards. Seems like Chicago is always broke but always settling lawsuits with big piles of cash for all kinds of things.
Also this:
https://www.bnd.com/news/business/article215347345.html
Police chase fleeing felon causing him to strike and kill 2 innocents for another $3 million...

I wish I lived in a state with no Chicago in it.
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: MechAg94 on July 24, 2018, 12:23:23 PM
Are police / govt liable for people hurt (by the criminal) in those high speed chases?  Have there been court decisions applying to this?  This comes up in Hollywood stuff a lot, but I am curious what happens in reality.
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: BlueStarLizzard on July 24, 2018, 12:27:57 PM
I'm betting the insurance pays most of it... But the insurance bill must be astronomical anyway.
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: Kingcreek on July 24, 2018, 12:39:02 PM
One way or another, the taxpayers are covering it.
Chicago has a huge problem with the mayor and AG and pandering top police admin blaming police patrol officers for everything bad that happens to the "community". The criminals have no accountability and are often released with charges downgraded to misdemeanors. Patrol officers are not motivated to enforce or chase or apprehend or heaven forbid drawing a weapon on some of these fools.
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: K Frame on July 24, 2018, 01:04:28 PM
"Chicago has a huge problem with the mayor and AG and pandering top police admin blaming police patrol officers for everything bad that happens to the "community"."

Don't forget law-abiding gun owners! We're worse than Hitler!
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: 230RN on July 24, 2018, 01:17:28 PM
I wonder how many of these awards are structured payouts.  You know, $10 a month for a billion dollars.  Then when Chicago defaults on all bonds and debts, they're off the hook for the remaining sum.

Are structured settlements like insurance claims payouts?  Not taxable income for the payee because they're "compensation for a loss," and therefore not taxable?

Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: brimic on July 24, 2018, 02:06:25 PM
I had a coworker 20 years back who hit a water shutoff with his motorcycle and woke up in a hospital.
A road crew was doing some sort of maintenance and failed to push the water valve back down to street level.
The city billed him around $200 for the fire dept to hose his blood off the pavement.

I don't remember if he even got a settlement, maybe enough to pay part of his medical bills...
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: lee n. field on July 24, 2018, 02:51:46 PM
I wish I lived in a state with no Chicago in it.

Yep-o.
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: MechAg94 on July 24, 2018, 04:17:44 PM
My problem is some of these settlements are far beyond actual damages even counting medical.  Makes me wonder if some of these are sort of payments to friendly trial lawyers. 
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: Pb on July 24, 2018, 04:56:18 PM
My problem is some of these settlements are far beyond actual damages even counting medical.  Makes me wonder if some of these are sort of payments to friendly trial lawyers.  

Don't the lawyers typically get 1/3 of the payout anyway as their "fee"?
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: Devonai on July 24, 2018, 06:25:15 PM
In Connecticut, it's almost impossible to get the state to pay out on a pothole claim of any kind, though I've not heard of a case where they were sued for wrongful death because of one.

Outside of that, they'll deny your claim for just about any reason.  Didn't see it?  You were driving too fast or following too close to the vehicle in front of you.  Did the state receive prior notice of the pothole within the last three weeks?  If not, tough.  Raining too hard to see the hazard?  You were driving too fast.
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: MechAg94 on July 24, 2018, 11:38:27 PM
In Connecticut, it's almost impossible to get the state to pay out on a pothole claim of any kind, though I've not heard of a case where they were sued for wrongful death because of one.

Outside of that, they'll deny your claim for just about any reason.  Didn't see it?  You were driving too fast or following too close to the vehicle in front of you.  Did the state receive prior notice of the pothole within the last three weeks?  If not, tough.  Raining too hard to see the hazard?  You were driving too fast.
That is the sort of default response I would expect, not "hey, here is a$4 Million".  The guy died, but still that is a lot of money.
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: Scout26 on July 25, 2018, 01:08:57 AM
I wonder how many of these awards are structured payouts.  You know, $10 a month for a billion dollars.  Then when Chicago defaults on all bonds and debts, they're off the hook for the remaining sum.

Are structured settlements like insurance claims payouts?  Not taxable income for the payee because they're "compensation for a loss," and therefore not taxable?



It depends.  Some may be non-taxable, while other parts of the settlement may be taxable.   This will make it clear a s mud.* 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/lawsuitesawardssettlements.pdf


If you claim some or all of your settlement as non-taxable or deductible, you most likely will end up in front of an examiner (at least initially) to justify how and why you structured your return as you did.
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: 230RN on July 25, 2018, 11:05:15 AM
It depends.  Some may be non-taxable, while other parts of the settlement may be taxable.   This will make it clear as mud.  

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/lawsuitesawardssettlements.pdf
....


 :O

Wow.  Thirty six pages.  That sure wasn't a yes or no question, was it?

Thanks for the effort in digging that up.

Terry
Title: Re: $4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.
Post by: HeroHog on July 25, 2018, 01:49:09 PM
When ya get lawyers/courts involved, this is what you get.