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Given the plethora of ice and snow we've recently experienced, I have what I think is a timely question. I was discussing my frustration about unshoveled sidewalks with a co-worker and he told me he never shovels the walk in front of his house for fear of being sued. Apparently he's been informed that if the walk is shoveled and someone slips and falls he can be sued, but if he doesn't shovel it, he can't be. That sounds fishy to me. Isn't he making a good faith effort to keep people safe by shoveling his walk? Isn't it up to the person walking to be careful too? And really, what are the odds that someone will be hurt enough to actually sue a homeowner for a random slip and fall? Some input from a legal authority would be welcome here.
Thanks for any enlightenment you can provide.
Amy
Chicago, IL
Hello my dear Amy of Chicago,
Wow. Really? Who believes that? Your co-worker is grasping there. He must really not like shoveling. That makes absolutely ... zero sense, as far as we can tell. Granted sometimes laws and ordinances and things are fairly nonsensical, but having one that discourages people from shoveling their walks? We don't think so.
The opposite, in fact, is the truth. Chicago Municipal Code 10-8-190 explicitly says that you cannot be sued if you put forth a good faith effort to clear your walk from snow and ice. Specifically, "any person who removes snow or ice from the public sidewalk or street, shall not, as a result of his acts or omissions in such removal, be liable for civil damages." The only time that would not apply is if the person performed "acts or omissions amounting to willful or wanton misconduct in such snow or ice removal."
In other words, clear the walk the best you can, and you won't have to worry about lawsuits. Amazing what common courtesy will get you!
Besides -- it's not just a matter of lawsuits, civic duty, and being a good human being. It's actually the law. Our good friend the Chicago Municipal Code once again informs us in section 10-8-180 that "every owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person having charge of any building or lot of ground in the city abutting upon any public way or public place shall remove the snow and ice from the sidewalk in front of such building or lot of ground."
We take it to mean that if you're the person in charge of the grounds (be it the landlord, the owner, or the occupant), you're the one who has to clean up the snow. And you've got a deadline to get the job done by:
The snow which falls or accumulates during the day (excepting Sundays) before four p.m. shall be removed within three hours after the same has fallen or accumulated. The snow which falls or accumulates on Sunday or after four p.m. and during the night on other days shall be removed before ten a.m.
Three hours?! Good thing that ordinance isn't really ever enforced, huh?
The code gets pretty specific too. If the sidewalk is wider than five feet, you have to clear at least five feet of sidewalk. If the sidewalk's so frozen you'd damage it if you cleared it (due to your superpowers), you have to lay down "ashes, sand, sawdust, or some similar suitable material, and shall, as soon thereafter as the weather shall permit, thoroughly clean said sidewalk."
So the ordinance is in place, but any record of it actually being enforced seems to be missing. Which we think is a little unfortunate, as we slip, slide and inevitably fall on our asses while walking around wintry Chicago.
Image via mepp
Slipping on the ice? Need some advice? Email ask(at)chicagoist(dot)com.
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I love my neighbors who shovel. I think we have a "who has the best-shoveled sidewalk?" competition going on right now, so that's cool.
My personal opinion is that those able-bodied owners and landlords who don't clear their property's sidewalk (or pay someone else to do it) are flipping a huge middle-finger to everyone else on the block. It's a very anti-neighborly thing to do - especially when they've clearly taken the time to either a) clear their steps and entryways, b) shovel their carports/driveways/alley entrances, or both.
Unfortunately it is true that people have lost suits before for shoveling - when someone slipped they sued saying the shoveler created a dangerous condition - i'm not kidding, you can probably look it up but I am too lazy. Not sure how that would work with Chicago's shoveling requirement, think the suit was in the burbs.
amy, tell your co-worker that he's a lazy, selfish asshole
Seriously, tell me where this asshole coworker lives and I'll come kick him in the nuts. Ridiculous.
Stehpen - COMPLETELY AGREE.
Apparently, some people don't realize that the mail in our neighborhood is delivered by a postman pushing a cart. I imagine that's much more difficult when there's a foot of snow on the ground. Shovel, people!
I am printing this and putting it on the fence of the three houses and the one CHURCH! that never shovel between my house and the blue line stop at Logan Square. Have pride people, shovel! What is the worst thing that can happen, you actually meet a neighbor?!
-civic pride
I 'm loving my neighbors in Ukrainian Village. There's a guy on my block with a snow blower who goes up and down the sidewalks with it. Now id we could just do something about dibs ...
i live on a street with mainly single family homes, so nearly everyone shovels. however, it's always the same houses that never shovel.
it gets really dangerous when the snow ends up in this well-trodden path that's about the shape of a foot wide and you end up stumbling all over, trying to balance beam through the thing. one wrong slip, and it's bye, bye ankle. when that patch of sidewalk gets icy, it's crazy dangerous.
There used to be some truth to this, but the Snow and Ice Removal Act of 1979 alleviated the risk of being sued.
The Snow and Ice Removal Act of 1979 seeks to encourage citizens “to clean the sidewalks abutting their residences of snow and ice." The Act does that by shielding anyone from liability for injuries “caused by the snowy or icy condition of the sidewalk resulting from his or her acts or omissions unless the alleged misconduct was willful or wanton.”
More at: http://www.illinoislegalaid.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=5557
As I've walked around my neighborhood recently, the idea has popped in my head of buying a shovel, and shoveling the snow and muck from uncleared sidewalks onto the front doorsteps of the homes or buildings that left them that way.
But it would probably be easier to print out copies of the relevant laws and tape them to their door instead.
i think this used to be true as well because i used to work for a landlord who also told me this theory. Apparently the thinking used to be that if you didn't shovel you couldn't get sued because snow is an "act of God" and the land owner did not cause it.
I'm glad that's not the case, needless to say.
Because I don't have a car, I walk a lot, often lugging bags of groceries with me from the nearest trainstation (since mine was closed by the CTA). I REALLY appreciate those homeowners and building owners who actually make an effort to clear their sidewalks.
Shoveling and clearing sidewalks really is a matter of being a good neighbor and a responsible property owner.
I'm also amazed at how many lovely, expensive homes in my neighborhood provide a virtual "break your neck if you try to walk on our sidewalk" experience, while 70 year old homeowners who were here before gentrification always manage to clear the walk. Can't someone who can afford $2-4 million dollar homes hire a service if they can't be bothered to shovel? Heck, if the elderly can shovel, what gives here????
There's an ordinance requiring people to shovel snow from their sidewalks, and there's an ordinance requiring dog owners to scoop their poop. I figure one trumps the other: If they don't shovel, I don't scoop. Should my mutt opt to squat on the lawn of a citizen who has responded to his civic responsibility, I'll respond to mine. Otherwise, I'll leave them something else to shovel. Eye for an eye, scoop for a scoop.
Nice tconner, nice.
I have always felt the snow shoveling ordinance needed to be enforced, especially infront of commercial properties. Although I thought the law was 24 hours, 3 is not enough time. (hello a work day is 8-9 or more hours) I feel this is a huge untapped source of revenue. And eventually once you get it into the minds of people, the revenue stream will dry up, but then we will have clean sidewalks everywhere, HOORAY!
Can't someone who can afford $2-4 million dollar homes hire a service if they can't be bothered to shovel? Heck, if the elderly can shovel, what gives here????
Same thing with the new condos on my block. They don't do it cause they don't go out the front door. Just swing the benzo around back to the private garage and you never have to deal the great unwashed.
I do shovel always but it is correct: It used to be you could be sued if you shoveled and someone slipped and hurt themselves.
There was some news story about this back in the 1990s when a Chicagoan was sued for just situation.
Then Mayor Daley spoke on it as part of he same story, saying how ridiculous it was that this could happen and the citizens should go ahead and shovel--the City would actually stand up for them and pay damages in any such suit. Then Daley and the alderman eventaully passed the laws that have been posted above, actually providing that Sidewalks had to be shoveled.
But yes, until not too long ago, you could be sued for having someone fall on a sidewalk that you shoveled.
Guess who else doesn't shovel the snow?
The City of Chicago never shovels the snow on Ravenswood Ave or Schreiber Ave. right next to buildings where the salt & salt spreaders are stored!
A childhood friend of mine up and died while shoveling snow many years ago. He was young and athletic. No one knows exactly the cause of death was specifically, except to say that he was wearing shoes with no socks. They found him in a snowbank in front of the apartment building his father owned.
You should always wear socks while shoveling snow.
but this is what i can't figure out: who is responsible for shoveling - the property owner or the tenant? i always thought it was the property owner, based on my experiences in apartment buildings. now i work in a small storefront in a commercial strip. the landlord (who, by the way, also owns the apartments above the commercial spaces) does not shovel in front of the stores, only in front of the one vacant store. isn't he the one responsible for this?
Good question. It seems that if you own residential property, then the building owner is responsible for shoveling. This makes sense since the same sidewalk, if replaced at the property owner's request, is also partly funded by the same property owner.
With commercial property, it almost seems as though once the space is leased the property owner often abdicates clearing the sidewalk of snow. Then again, there's a realty company on Lincoln and Montrose that doesn't bother shoveling the snow off of the sidewalk directly adjacent to them to the West of their building. In their case they appear to both own the property and be using it.
And of course there are exceptions. When my dad had property on Clark Street, he'd shovel his place and the tenant's sidewalk. Then again, if my dad had a snowblower back then, he would have probably cleared the entire block.
There seems to be a brigade of guys with snowblowers in Ravenswood Manor who get out and clear everyone's sidewalks w/i hours of a snowfall. Maybe not perfectly, but enough so people shoveling after them have a much easier time with getting the whole sidewalk cleared. Thanks, Snowblower Brigade! I'm not even going to complain about you guys being out there at 6 AM the other morning.