RSS FeedBusted: Atlanta’s false sense of sidewalk security
July 23, 2012 at 01:00pm by Sally Flocks · 5 comments
Atlanta’s sidewalk ordinance assigns financial responsibility for repairing broken sidewalks to abutting property owners. For decades, officials assumed the ordinance protected the City from liability claims if a sidewalk defect contributed to a pedestrian injury. Council members and other officials thought the property owner would instead be liable.
Indeed, at a meeting with PEDS CEO Sally Flocks in 2006, Atlanta’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer said the City would not be liable for injuries on a broken sidewalk unless the City had notified the property owner that the sidewalk needed to be repaired. For that reason, the City had stopped notifying property owners about sidewalk defects.
In 2010 PEDS requested a meeting with newly-appointed Public Works Commissioner Richard Mendoza to learn more about how the City responds to hazard reports submitted to the City. Following that, Public Works began notifying property owners about defective sidewalks located next to their property. Public Works does not, however, follow up on notices by forcing property owners to pay for repairs. As a result, the City continues to neglect most sidewalk hazards reported to the City.
During the past two years, jury decisions and settlements with injured pedestrians cost the city over $4.1 million. Financial responsibility for sidewalk repairs is not the same thing as legal liability for injuries.
The Official Code of Georgia states that municipalities are not liable for defects in their streets unless one of three conditions applies:
* the area was negligently constructed or maintained
* the municipality had actual notice of the defect
* the defect had not existed long enough that the city should have known about it.
Atlanta’s State of the City’s Infrastructure Report estimates that over 20 percent of the City’s sidewalks need to be repaired or replaced. Given that — and the small amount of funding dedicated to making repairs during the past few decades — City officials know that City policies have contributed to sidewalk neglect throughout the City.
The recent payouts to injured pedestrians have increased momentum for policy change. With your help, PEDS will convince the Atlanta City Council to replace the current sidewalk ordinance and identify sufficient funding to address the entire $152 million backlog of broken sidewalks, curbs and missing or broken curb ramps with 20 years.
Broken sidewalks are a real problem for senior citizens for whom a fall can cause multiple health problems ultimately interfere with their ability to care for themselves. Fear of falling while walking in their neighborhood also limits the ability of the elderly to exercise with the resultant health care problems. In addition to the liability payments that the city makes to injured pedestrians, the impact of falls and lack of activity on the costs of Medicare and Medicaid, also affects the pocketbooks of the community.
As a senior citizen (age 70) I urge the Council to support city wide sidewalk maintenance.
Thanks Linda for your comment. You’re so right about other costs resulting from both lack of physical activity and falls. At last week’s forum Councilmember Bond emphasized the need for safe sidewalks to keep Atlantans active and healthy. The recent high profile case was of a visually impaired man who permanently lost his ability to live independently as a result of his fall on a broken sidewalk. Healthcare costs should be part of the conversation too.
http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2012/07/27/sidewalk-radio-looks-to-patch-atlanta-sidewalks
In many neighborhoods, especially the older ones, the sidewalks are adjacent to the homeowner’s property and not on the homeowner’s property. In this situation, it does not make sense for the city to expect homeowners to pay for sidewalk repairs.
Thanks for your comment. We need to be clear this is the situation everywhere in the City of Atlanta, not just in some neighborhoods. This is exactly why PEDS and many others consider the current policy completely wrong-headed and ultimately not enforceable.