$4Million dollar pothole- where else but Chicago.

[Kingcreek]

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.

[MechAg94]

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.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I'm betting the insurance pays most of it... But the insurance bill must be astronomical anyway.

[Kingcreek]

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.

[K Frame]

"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!

[230RN]

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?

[brimic]

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...

[lee n. field]

I wish I lived in a state with no Chicago in it.

Yep-o.

[MechAg94]

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. 

[Pb]

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"?

[Devonai]

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.

[MechAg94]

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.

[Scout26]

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.

[230RN]

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
....

 

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

Thanks for the effort in digging that up.

Terry

[HeroHog]

When ya get lawyers/courts involved, this is what you get.