Broken Grates Become Sidewalk Tripping Hazard

CHICAGO (CBS)-A horrific fall on a sidewalk left Chicago resident Carol Bavcevic with head trauma. She's now speaking out about broken tree grates along city sidewalks. CBS 2's Dave Savini investigates the hazard.

Broken, unsecured grates around trees in Chicago move when stepped on and protrude above the sidewalk. Bavcevic tripped on one, fell on her face and suffered a head injury, facial bruising and a massive forehead lump she can still feel more than a year later.

"My nose was like cracked," said Bavcevic. "My whole body hurt. My neck, everything hurt."

It happened on a narrow sidewalk in the Taylor Street area. Bavcevic's fall also lead to skyrocketing blood pressure and a stroke, said her daughter Kimberly Bavcevic.

"When I saw her go down, I thought she's dead," said Kimberly Bavcevic.

A manager at a nearby restaurant, Davanti Enoteca, had tried long before Bavcevic's fall to get the city to fix the problem, Bavcevic said.

"He said that it's been a problem for a while and that he contacted the city," said Bavcevic.

The family hired Attorney Jeff Kroll and filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago.

"The city ignored complaints by the restaurant that there was a dangerous condition that existed," said Kroll. "We're not asking the city to do something crazy... do your job."

More than a year after Bavcevic was injured, the grate and sidewalk still have not been fixed.

The CBS 2 Investigators found other problem grates. Outside CBS 2 headquarters at Block 37, there are grates that pop up and down.

On Ashland, they are broken apart and sitting partially on the sidewalk. More loose grates can be found near areas with heavy foot traffic like Ogilvie Train Station. Hazards were even found outside City Hall and the James R. Thompson Center.

"The taxes that people pay in the city should take care of all that stuff," Bavcevic said.

The CBS 2 Investigators found at least two tree-grate lawsuits against the city settled this year.