A Jerusalem resident who fell into a hole in the road while crossing the road with his children, not at a crosswalk, will receive compensation in the amount of approximately 380,000 shekels as part of a settlement with the Jerusalem Municipality.
The incident occurred in April 2023, at noon, when N., a resident of Jerusalem, returned with his children from a playground on Yitzhak Sadeh Street in the city. He claimed that there was no crosswalk nearby.
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While crossing the road with his children, he suddenly encountered a pothole in the road, lost his balance and fell. As a result of the fall, his right leg turned sharply and he was seriously injured in the ankle area.
Following the painful fall, he sought medical treatment on his own, and it was then discovered that he was suffering from a broken ankle.
Unfortunately for N., the fracture did not fully heal, despite the many treatments he underwent. He claims that since the accident he has had difficulty standing for long periods of time and performing daily activities, a limitation that affects his ability to continue his work as a barber, a profession that requires prolonged standing.
Immediately after the accident, N. contacted the municipal hotline and reported the hazard, which he claimed could harm other passersby. He later received a message that the area had been repaired. N. also sent a written request to the municipality describing the circumstances of the incident.
After the municipality disclaimed its responsibility, N. turned to attorney Anat Ashkenazi, who filed a tort claim on his behalf with the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court against the Jerusalem Municipality.
In the lawsuit, Attorney Ashkenazi claimed that the responsibility for N.'s fall lies with the municipality, which is supposed to take care of maintaining the roads within its boundaries and locating hazards. She claimed that the pothole in the road was a dangerous hazard that the municipality should have located and repaired in advance, and that if it had been addressed in time, the accident would have been avoided.
It was further claimed that the municipality did not take basic precautions, such as fencing off the hazard or posting any warning, and that the mere fact that the site was repaired after the incident indicates that this was a real defect.
On the other hand, the Jerusalem Municipality rejected the claims and denied its responsibility for the incident.
The municipality claimed that the plaintiff crossed the road in a place not designated for pedestrian crossing, as there is no crosswalk in the area, and that this was careless behavior. The municipality also claimed that roads are not sterile surfaces, and that the existence of certain disruptions is inevitable.
According to the municipality, it has not been proven that there was a hazard at the site that required its intervention, and even if there was some defect, this does not hold it liable. Accordingly, the municipality argued that responsibility for the fall lies with N., or at the very least, significant contributory fault should be attributed to him.
As part of the procedure, medical opinions were submitted on behalf of the parties, and it was agreed, for the purposes of compromise only, that N. suffers from an orthopedic disability of 151% to 3%.
Subsequently, after examining the costs and risks involved in continuing the proceedings, the municipality agreed to compromise, and as part of an agreement between the parties, and without admitting responsibility for the incident, it was agreed that it would compensate N. in the amount of approximately 380,000 shekels.
These days, a settlement agreement between the parties was submitted to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, which accepted it and gave it the force of a judgment for all intents and purposes.
