Torts/Personal Injury
Nov. 20, 2025
Why minimal sidewalk safety compliance leaves pedestrians at risk
Broken or unstable utility vault covers and exposed wires on sidewalks across the U.S. create predictable, preventable hazards that current inspections and enforcement fail to address.
Across the United States, broken or unstable cable vault covers,
unburied wires and slippery metal lids are injuring pedestrians in preventable
accidents. From New York to Los Angeles, lawsuits have alleged the same
recurring hazards: vault lids that rock under pressure, covers that flip open
or wires left across sidewalks for months.
A California woman suffered a catastrophic fall when a communications vault
cover collapsed beneath her. The impact left her wi...
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