Cost of City Crashes: The Story Of A Man Hit By A City Worker

David Ellin: "Your Paperwork Falls Into A Black-Hole When You Submit It To The City Of Baltimore"

Source: Fox Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - The story of a man hit by a city worker, and the price he paid for it, can happen to anyone who gets into an accident with a Baltimore vehicle. Joseph Roberts drove a 2003 Chevy Cavalier to his girlfriend’s house in late July. As he got off of 695 and onto Loch Raven Boulevard, an SUV on Cromwell Bridge Rd entered the intersection, hitting the right front of Roberts’ car. Baltimore County police arrived and concluded the SUV, driven by a Baltimore Environmental Police (BEP) officer, was at fault for the accident. Roberts’ car was ruled as disabled by the county officer and towed away. Since the BEP officer was ruled at fault, Roberts thought the city would cover the fees for recovering his car from the tow truck company. He was wrong. About two months later, Roberts learned the city would pay him about $2,400 for the crash. But that money won’t come in time to get his vehicle out of the tow yard. David Ellin: "Your paperwork falls into a black-whole when you submit it to the City Of Baltimore." By state law, the tow yard can take possession of a vehicle after 30 days. Roberts could not afford the towing fees to get his car out, so he signed it over to the tow company. “I work very hard to get my car, and then I’ve had it four months and it was taken away from me. It wasn’t through anything I did,” Roberts told the Crime & Justice team in August. The city can take up to 180 days to process a claim filed against it in a car accident. Fox45 tried to obtain reports of all city auto accidents over the last year, but was denied those documents by the city’s Law Department. We did receive claim numbers from the city. The city has had 448 claims filed against it this year. Baltimore has paid out about $2.3 million for claims, a number that almost exceeds the total amount paid in all of 2016.