Take a spill on one of Flint's sidewalks and you can expect a decent payout from the city, according to Joe Lawlor of The Flint Journal:
City of Flint payouts for defective sidewalk claims
1999: $359,543
2000: $18,000
2001: $242,500
2002: $74,500
2003: $170,300
2004: $147,000
2005: $59,500
2006: $89,157
2007: $138,500
2008 (year-to-date): $15,000
Just don't assume you can just stroll into a local hospital to get medical care if you need it after the fall:
The county's three hospitals have been closed to incoming ambulances for more than 384 hours combined since Feb. 1, according to Genesee County Medical Control Authority statistics.Hurley Medical Center and McLaren Regional Medical Center both shut their doors to ambulances early last week due to a packed ER.
And for about 2 1/2 hours last week, all three hospitals were reported closed to incoming ambulances -- at which point patients were transported to the nearest hospital available, despite overflowing ERs.
