HOLE LOT
Driver suing city for $3.6 million after pothole left her with ‘permanent injuries’ – city was forced to set up hotline
The city has proposed a solution - it'll take an estimated $23.5 million
A DRIVER has launched a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against a city, alleging their neglectful pothole management led to life-changing injuries.
Gillian Conroy, a Portland-area driver, filed the lawsuit claiming she suffered a traumatic brain injury after driving over a pothole.
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In April 2022, Conroy claimed she hit a pothole in Southwest Portland, according to Oregon Live.
Conroy said she couldn't see the pothole until her car was about to hit the gash in the road.
The pothole's impact "abruptly and forcefully" lifted Conroy from her car seat, even though she said she was wearing her seat belt and obeying traffic laws, according to the suit.
The suit says the driver hit her head on the car's ceiling, leading to "numerous physical injuries."
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She listed a concussion, traumatic brain injury, tinnitus, torn rotator cuff, and several cuts and bruises.
Conroy's lawyer, Brian Chenoweth, said the driver is a former technical sales professional at tech giant Intel.
He said she had been out of work since hitting the pothole.
The lawsuit seeks $3.66 million to help cover alleged medical bills, medical costs, and lost earnings.
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"She has difficulty focusing on computers for any length of time," Chenoweth told the publication.
The lawsuit claims that government agencies should have been more proactive in maintaining its roadways.
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However, the defendants are listed as the Oregon Department of Transportation and Multnomah County.
The stretch of roadway where Conroy alleges she hit the pothole is maintained by the city of Portland, according to Oregon Live.
Portland drivers have long complained about decrepit roads, according to Willamette Week.
"Our roads are trashed," Mingus Mapps, the commissioner of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, or PBOT, told the website.
"If we do not renew this particular program, we’re going to be in a world of hurt."
Our roads are trashed.
Mingus Mapps
The city has set up a website where drivers can report potholes after receiving numerous complaint.
Government agencies maintain an interactive map of reported potholes throughout the area.
To pay for the pothole repairs, PBOT has imposed a 10-cent tax on gas purchases in the city.
PBOT estimates it needs one-third of the funds from the gas tax - an estimated $23.5 million - to repaving the city's ailing roads.
Another $5 million is earmarked to fix existing potholes.
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"The transportation system is going to continue to deteriorate unless we get vast amounts of money," former PBOT commissioner, Steve Novick, told the website.
"We’ll have to talk about which streets are going to go back to gravel."