Oakland has paid $35M in 10 years to people injured on its dangerous roads

smorgasbord

smorgasbord

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oaklandside.org

Oakland has paid $35M in 10 years to people injured on its dangerous roads

We examined why the city struggles to fix its roads, the impact on those harmed, and lawsuits holding Oakland accountable.
oaklandside.org oaklandside.org

Last week, Oakland approved a record $6.5 million payment to settle a lawsuit alleging that a broken city street caused a life-altering bicycle crash. Bruno Van Schoote was riding on MacArthur Boulevard in 2020 when a crack in the road caused him to fall. He badly injured his spine and sued the city to cover his medical bills.
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In the VanSchoote case, his lawyers went through OakDOT and Public Works staff emails to learn if the city knew of the dangerous road conditions before his crash. They found that city staff had identified and described in detail the “long paving ridge” as a “hazard to bicyclists,” and did so at least five years before VanSchoote’s injury.
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This is a problem all over, and generally DOT's don't care. I reported a sink hole forming along a major route near me, I could see that it was expanding over the weeks I rode by it. Eventually it would be in the travel lane instead of the shoulder and the yard beside it. It took them 3 months before someone finally came out, they dumped some fill into it, topped off the grassy part with topsoil and grass seed and a bit of hot patch asphalt for the part that was missing from the shoulder. It's still forming, the new asphalt has broken off an is several inches lower than when they patched it. All they did was kick the can for a few years until it just collapses and take the roadway with it. Our area isn't strangers to sudden sinkholes either. A few years ago during a minor earthquake a 30' wide hole opened in a field. Most of the bedrock around here is limestone, it's not as bad as florida, but sinkholes happen.
 
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