'Failed us miserably': Aurora driver upset town won't pay repair bill due to improperly placed manhole cover

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 20, 2021

Aurora resident Tom Hussey is finding out the hard way the town won’t pay car repairs if a driver hits a misplaced piece of municipal infrastructure like a manhole cover.

On Oct. 7 at about 9 a.m., he was driving his Chevrolet Equinox on Kennedy Street West.

At Knole Haven Drive, he unsuccessfully tried to avoid an improperly placed manhole cover that caught his eye at the last minute.

The cover flipped up into the wheel and undercarriage.

“My tire immediately blew up, with a loud bang, and I had trouble steering the car to side of the road,” Hussey said in an email.

“At first, I was very scared and dazed. When I looked at the tire area and went back to the manhole cover, I was then upset/angry about what had happened.”

A passerby called the town and within minutes, an official arrived, said the manhole cover needed to be fixed before someone was “killed” and then properly placed it in the hole and spray painted around it, Hussey said.

But when Hussey later contacted the town to pay his $3,983 repair bill, legal services denied his request, saying there was no negligence on the municipality’s part and suggesting he contact his insurance company.

Hussey has paid for his car repairs, reluctant to put in an insurance claim because it will drive up his premiums.

His wife, Robyn, contacted Mayor Tom Mrakas, who said he would speak to the town lawyer but has not been in touch since despite her follow-up attempts, according to Hussey.

“We have lived in Aurora all of our lives -- both born and raised here and live in our fourth home in Aurora -- and have volunteered, mostly through sports, countless hours,” Hussey said.

“We have rarely ever asked anything of the town and when this ‘moment of truth’ occurred, the town failed us miserably. This is not strictly about money, but more about principle. We have been dutifully paying taxes here for many years. Unfortunately for the town, we are woven into the fibre of Aurora quite deeply and this story has been and will continue to be told among our contacts.”

When The Banner contacted the town and Mrakas for comment, the legal division said the section of Kennedy was inspected a few days prior to the incident and found to be a proper state of repair. There was no negligence on the part of the town, which resulted in a claim denial, the department said.

Anne Marie Thomas, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s director of consumer and industry relations, said municipalities generally only pay car repairs if an incident is “egregious.”

“As drivers, it’s our responsibility to look for things on the road,” she said.

“If that had been someone (who) had fallen in the middle of the road and he didn’t see them until the last minute, that would have been his fault, too. As drivers, we have a responsibility to drive at a speed that will enable us to react properly if something unforeseen happens right in front of us.”