Warren offers $2,000 settlement in scooter mishap

Child Street resident David Silvia said his motorized scooter was damaged by hidden pothole last May

By Ted Hayes
Posted 3/22/17

A Warren man who sued the town after he damaged his motorized scooter by steering it into a hidden pothole last May said he’ll probably accept a $2,000 settlement offer authorized by the Warren …

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Warren offers $2,000 settlement in scooter mishap

Child Street resident David Silvia said his motorized scooter was damaged by hidden pothole last May

Posted

A Warren man who sued the town after he damaged his motorized scooter by steering it into a hidden pothole last May said he’ll probably accept a $2,000 settlement offer authorized by the Warren Town Council Tuesday night. But he said the other part of his demand, that Warren address crumbling sidewalks along Metacom Avenue and elsewhere in town, stands.

Child Street resident David Silvia said his machine sustained about $2,000 in electrical damage after he unknowingly steered it into a water-filled pothole on a Metacom Avenue sidewalk. He filed a civil suit against the town seeking restitution for his loss soon afer, and demanded the town address its crumbling sidewalks.

“I think filing this lawsuit was hoping that this will open (town officials’) eyes that they are responsible,” he said. “They have a liability for people being injured and in my case suffering damage. But they don’t want to take responsibility.”

On Tuesday night, Warren Town Solicitor Tony DeSisto recommended to council members that they inform the town’s insurer, the Rhode Island Interlocal Risk Management Trust, that they would like to settle in return for Mr. Silvia signing an agreement that he will withdraw his suit with prejudice. That means that the suit would be withdrawn permanently. Council members agreed to his recommendation.

On Wednesday, Mr. Silvia said he had not yet been officially informed of the settlement offer. He said he has yet to hear from a mediator assigned to the case, which he filed in U.S. District Court in Providence.

Mr. Silvia said he paid for repairs to his scooter on credit and will likely accept the settlement “to dig myself out of this $2,000 hole. Most likely I’m going to agree to it for the simple reason that I need the repair money back. I need to get this thing paid off.”

However, he said he still wants town officials to address Warren’s deteriorating sidewalks, as well as another issue — the lack of adequate snow and ice removal following storms.

“Just going down to Tom’s Market I’m taking my life in my hands,” he said. “If I’m forced to go onto Child Street and I’m hit, guess what? I’m going to be filing another suit against the town.”

Mr. Silvia said he has recently taken that demand to “a higher authority,” filing an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) complaint against the town.

Warren Town Manager Jan Reitsma said months ago that trying to work with Mr. Silvia’s requests had been “very trying,” and that town officials were doing everything they could to address his demands.

Several months after the incident, workers from the state DOT (Department of Transportation) tore up the section of sidewalk where it occurred and refilled it with asphalt.

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.