Elderly man injured, and Jerusalem Municipality defended itself: "He wasn't wearing glasses"

The Jerusalem Municipality will pay approximately 350,000 NIS to an elderly visually impaired man who was injured when he tripped over construction debris in the Har Homa neighborhood. Magistrate Judge Orna Sandler-Eitan recently rejected the municipality's claim of contributory negligence by the man, who they alleged was walking without his glasses. The incident occurred in January 2022.

The man is a widower and a father of nine who was traveling by bus to visit his daughter in Har Homa. Upon arrival, the driver informed him that he needed to take a different route, so he exited the bus and walked toward a station across the road. On his way, he tripped, according to his testimony, over construction debris, injuring his face, hands, and legs. He was evacuated by an MDA ambulance to the Shaare Zedek emergency room, where a displaced patella fracture was diagnosed. He underwent surgery to fix the fracture with a plate, followed by a second surgery due to an infection, after which he endured a long rehabilitation process.

In court, the plaintiff stated that his condition now prevents him from showering while standing or attending synagogue, activities he performed regularly before the accident. The municipality argued that the man was responsible for his own damages for walking without glasses. They also suggested that the contractors working at the site were responsible for the debris, yet they refrained from filing a third-party notice against them.

Based on photographs presented, Judge Sandler-Eitan determined that the man had tripped over a metal mesh fence camouflaged by paving stones and sand, making it difficult for even a sighted person to notice, let alone the visually impaired plaintiff. She ruled that this was a dangerous hazard for which the municipality bears full responsibility: "The local authority has an active duty to supervise public roads, locate obstacles, and remove them, even if they were placed there by contractors."

The claim regarding the lack of glasses was rejected, as the plaintiff was clearly seen wearing them in the photographs. The judge emphasized that the municipality has a duty to ensure sidewalks are accessible to people with disabilities. She noted the lack of logic in requiring the municipality to make bus stations accessible while simultaneously reducing its responsibility for obstacles on the paths leading to them.

"The hazard was not visible from a distance to a person without vision difficulties, let alone an elderly or visually impaired person. Therefore, I have not found any fault on the part of the plaintiff," she concluded. The parties agreed to set the man's permanent orthopedic disability at 20% and his disability due to scarring at 10%. The municipality was ordered to pay 277,000 NIS in damages, plus approximately 70,000 NIS in legal expenses and attorney's fees.