Daley Blasts Cops' Suit Against Contractor

Says median planters aid safety

Mayor Daley lashed out Thursday at a lawsuit filed by two Chicago policemen who were seriously injured when their squad car smashed into one of the city's new median planters.

The lawsuit named the companies that designed and installed the planters as defendants, not the city, but there was no mistaking the broadside at one of the mayor's pet programs.

Asked by reporters whether he should consider removing the planters for safety reasons, Daley said: "I would have to take out every street pole, too, because more people are killed by street poles, right? I'd have to take the cars out because more people are killed by cars."

The lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court by Chicago Lawn District police officers Andre Van Vegten and Matthew Koman, who were answering a report of a person with a gun on Jan. 8 when Van Vegten lost control of the car in the 5000 block of South Cicero.

Van Vegten was paralyzed below the waist and blinded while Koman suffered a crushed foot in the accident, said their attorney, Robert Clifford .

Many median planters were installed last year as part of the mayor's city beautification effort in preparation for the Democratic National Convention.

The mayor happened to be visiting a West Side park Thursday to reaffirm his commitment to city neighborhoods on the one-year anniversary of the convention when he was asked about the planters.

The planters were designed to meet state and federal traffic safety standards, Daley said, and he argued that they actually make driving safer.

"If you didn't have that, you'd hit another car and kill more people," he said. "Some people would like that better. I don't."

The lawsuit alleges that Abari Construction Inc. was negligent because it failed to properly place advance warning signs to alert motorists to the planter boxes, failed to provide sufficient lighting and built the planters too close to the roadway.