Illinois Woman Paralyzed After Driver Swerved To Avoid Two-Lane Pothole

The dangers of potholes are back.

We know potholes are always a huge issue around here and sometimes you can't avoid one the size and depth of a swimming pool, so you apologize to your car after you hit it.

You just cannot avoid this stuff:

One 31-year-old woman is getting a massive payday of $60 million after a pothole-related situation left her paralyzed.

According to NBC Chicago, in August 2020, Sarah Grasser from Minooka got severe and permanent injuries when damage was done to her spine in a crash. What happened you ask? The other driver swerved to avoid a pothole that experts are saying was "two-lanes-wide and several inches deep" left by construction on the highway.

When the driver swerved, it sent Sarah's car into a ditch on I-55 northbound in Will County.

Sarah and her attorneys recently won a $60 million settlement against these construction companies: K-Five Construction Corporation, D. Construction, Gallagher Asphalt Corporation, R.M. Chin and Associates, AECOM, ATLAS Engineering Group, Traffic Control and Protection, TSI Traffic Control, Maintenance Coating Company, and Work Zone Safety, Inc. before the lawsuit went to trial.

Sarah argued that the companies left the road in an unsafe condition, not up to Illinois DOT standards. They said the pothole that made the driver swerve wasn't an isolated incident but instead the result of construction failures.

Her attorneys said that despite the road having visible problems, the construction companies reopened the road to fast-moving traffic without warnings or repairs.

This week, Sarah got $60 million in the settlement.