Getting screwed by the city or government

[terrets]

Forewarning: This is a rant. I am very pissed of, there may be some swearing.

So two weeks ago I was driving home from work. I was driving down a residential street and had slowed down to 20mph because there was a car coming towards me nearly in the middle of the street. Well I hit a pothole and have never heard a louder clunk in my life. Well when I got home I found out that my tire now has a fucking bulge. Well I went back to where the pot hole was and it turned out to be a manhole cover that was about 3inches lower than the pavement level. So Im pretty pissed because of this. Especially that these tires are $380 new and they have maybe 500 miles on them. I filed a claim with the city, including all the information of where I hit it, how it happened, pictures of the tire, and even a printout of how much the tire is new. Well guess what, IT WAS FUCKING DENIED. I guess I should have seen this coming because the city could give a shit less what happens to my vehicles. But seriously, I was going 20MPH. Not fucking 45 or 50 where I can see this happening, but 20. Now this seriously makes me want to beat someone with a stick. I know I cant do anything about it though. If I call and bitch they will probably just hang up on me. If I show up irate, I will just get thrown out or arrested. I could file a lawsuit, but I highly doubt the judge would rule in my favor. You know what the best part about this is, they fucking filed in the manhole cover a week after I filed my claim, DOESN'T THAT SHOW I SHOULD BE PAYED AND THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE? Now I dont know if they did this so they could say nothing ever happened...or if they are really trying to fix the roads. The roads around here are fucking terrible and it makes me not want to drive my car. How fucking hard is it to keep up with the roads. If you didnt have fucking four guys standing around watching one guy fix the fucking roads, YOU COULD HAVE THEM ALL FIXED. I really hate it when we get screwed over like this and cant do anything about it. I believe we need a WHOLE tear down and rebuild of the government. This is why people bomb establishments....not saying Im going to...just saying, someone keeps getting screwed and they get fed up and boom.

The reason for denying the claim: They city was not negligent and therefore, is not legally liable for your damages. FUCKING BULLSHIT, you fixed the damn hole because of me.

Id really like to beat someone with a stick.

Ive attached a picture of the manhole cover and my tire.

Not sure what you guys think. If you think its possible for me to win in a lawsuit(I think I have to pay for court time) or if its even worth it, please speak up.

Id also love to hear other stories.

Heres a copy of the notice of claim/injury form also.



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CITY OF APPLETON - NOTICE OF CLAIM/INJURY

Name: _________________________________
(Name and address must be completed or Notice of Claim will not be accepted)
Address: _______________

__0_____________________

Telephone: ___________________

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Incident /Accident Information

Date:___Sept 8, 2010____________ Time: ____10:45 PM_______________________

Place:__In front of ........________________________
(Be specific, please)
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Circumstances of Claim
In the space below briefly describe the circumstances of your claim. (Attach additional sheets, if necessary.) For auto damages attach a copy of the police report, if any, and attach a diagram of the accident scene including directional notation. For personal injury, indicate the nature of the injury and whether or not medical attention was given and provide the name(s) of the physician(s) and hospital. Also identify any witnesses to the incident/accident.

On my way home from work, after dropping of a fellow employee, I was driving north on N. Elinor Street. I had to move to the right side because of a parked car on the west side and a car driving south. I heard a very loud clunk/boom and thought I must have hit a pot hole. When I got home I noticed my tire had a bulge in the sidewall. I can no longer drive my car until I get a new tire because it could explode and cause me to crash and be injured or die. I cant believe this happened because I was only going 20mph. I went back to where I hit the pot hole and found out it was a manhole cover that is about 3 inches lower than the pavement level. I am rather angry because these tires were new about 500 miles ago and they cost $380 each. I have attached a picture of the bulge in the tire, the man hole cover, a printout from Matthews Tire for cost, and multiple pictures of the tire showing the brand and type. You can see how bad the bulge is and that there is rubber on the edge of the rim from hitting the pavement edge. I am looking to be compensated for the tire because I do not believe I should have to pay for the damages done to my tire due to unfit road conditions.

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CLAIM
(Note: You are not required to make a claim at this time. As long as you have filed the above Notice of Claim/Injury, you may file a claim with the City of Appleton at any time consistent with the applicable statute of limitations. However, in order for the City of Appleton to formally accept or deny your claim, the following claim must be completed and signed.)

The undersigned hereby makes a claim against the City of Appleton in the amount of $ 380.91_ arising out of the circumstances described above. To process this claim it is necessary to detail money damages being sought.

Signature:_____________________________________

Date:_______________________

Should you have any questions or require assistance - Call (920) 832-6300 REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WILL BE MADE UPON REQUEST AND IF FEASIBLE.
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[NickS VR4]

A little off topic of this, but do you have hazard insurance/warranty on your tires? I hit a pothole and it ripped the sidewall of my tire, turns out I had a 1yr hazard warranty on the tire and got it fixed.

[terrets]

I got them used so no . And theres probably more like 1000 miles on them :/. Still.

[Alan92RTTT]

Talk to your car insurance agent maybe you are covered for this. If they suggest collision only if they count it as not your fault.

[SkorpioLT]

holy shit! My friend has mentioned it to me last winter when he had a blown tire due to a terrible pothole (there was a ton of em on the site), that if something like this happens to me in MY TOWN, I could report it to the township (like you did) and get compensated. I wonder if that is really the case? You don't live in the town where it happened do you? Hopefully it never gets to that for me, because I did get get insurance on the tires when i bought them new. Good luck to you, hopefully you'll be able to squeeze something out of them.

[dbest671]

Did the manhole damage the rim or just the tire? And what kind of goodyear eagle F1 do you have(size, A/S), because I have them and paid probably 1/2 of the $380 new.

I would see if you could appeal the claim. I don't know how your city works though.

[terrets]

Talk to your car insurance agent maybe you are covered for this. If they suggest collision only if they count it as not your fault.

I did, they said theres nothing they can do because I have a $1000 deductible. :/

holy shit! My friend has mentioned it to me last winter when he had a blown tire due to a terrible pothole (there was a ton of em on the site), that if something like this happens to me in MY TOWN, I could report it to the township (like you did) and get compensated. I wonder if that is really the case? You don't live in the town where it happened do you? Hopefully it never gets to that for me, because I did get get insurance on the tires when i bought them new. Good luck to you, hopefully you'll be able to squeeze something out of them.

I dont know how big of a town you live in, but where it happened there is over 100k people, not sure if that has anything to do with it. And no, I live 3 cities over but I work there. When I first emailed them finding out what I can do about it, they said the city usually does not pay for damages done to vehicles. Which I think is total bullshit. Ya when I do get a new tire, I will be getting insurance if there isn't a year warranty or whatever protecting against potholes.

Did the manhole damage the rim or just the tire? And what kind of goodyear eagle F1 do you have(size, A/S), because I have them and paid probably 1/2 of the $380 new.

I would see if you could appeal the claim. I don't know how your city works though.

It only damaged the tire thank goodness. I have the GS-D3, 245/35R19. I am going to go talk to the city attorney and see if theres anything he can do. I could bring them to court but I would have to pay court fees and Im not sure the judge would rule in my favor.

[NickS VR4]

Talk to your car insurance agent maybe you are covered for this. If they suggest collision only if they count it as not your fault.

I had a problem with my insurance before with a similar case. I was on my way to work on the Atlantic City Expressway at 9pm and I, along with 5 other cars hit this tire tread that blew out from a NJ Transit bus. Well I did the whole police report thing on scene, but then called my insurance to ask who I should file with, and didn't even file the claim. They put on my record that I was 100% at fault for hitting an inanimate object in the road. I never followed through with the insurance claim with NJ Transit because about a month later I fell asleep at the wheel and totaled that car.

Point being, I hit an inanimate object in the road, even though it wasn't my fault, the insurance company still said it was.