A Chicago ordinance requires that snow that falls before 4 p.m. be shoveled within 3 hours. Snow falling after 4 p.m. must be shoveled by 10 a.m. the next day. The fine for not shoveling is a $50.00. The law is obviously not strictly enforced.
The ordinance also protects those who shovel from liability for not doing a good job of shoveling. Chicago Municipal Code Section 10-8-190 states: “Any person who removes snow or ice from the public sidewalk or street, shall not, as a result of his acts omissions in such removal, be liable for civil damages. This section does not apply to acts or omissions amounting to wilful or wanton misconduct in such snow or ice removal.”
However, the law does not protect property owners who create or whose property creates an unnatural accumulation of ice or snow that is unreasonably dangerous. For example Chicago personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer handled a case where a property owner had a pipe on his building that drained water on to the public sidewalk which then froze causing an unnatural accumulation of ice. Our client suffered a broken leg after slipping on the ice on the sidewalk and the Chicago injury attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer were able to reach a fair money settlement for our clients injuries.