Assume it's just an innocent accident?
Pshaw. Certainly the reaction was WAY overboard, but even in Chicago, where the potholes (especially after the winter snows and the snowplows scoop up both snow and street) can swallow an 18 wheeler, you just don't happen to accidentally run into a porch.
The lawyers would mostly rather be what they are than get out of the way even if the cost was Hammerfall. - Jerry Pournelle