What a horrible thing for that couple. I can't imagine the suffering they both went through. So unfair and so not right. Yet it happens all the time.
Up here where we are, there's a lack of county revenue and also the lack of residents seems to dictate that the county will not fix potholes until apparently someone from the county themselves hits one hard enough. We slowed down one evening and counted 50 potholes in about a 3 mile length of road. I would say that 30 of those were no big deal even if you hit them on a bike, but there were at least 10 of the 50 that were scary, and 1 or 2 could result in a bad accident.
In poor counties with low traffic rates, we've come to expect it and just watch closely. But still...I don't think there's any excuse for it.
I think the courts will go easy on the folks/contractor/hwy dept responsible, and I think that's just plain criminal. But then what else should we expect? I mean...somehow it had to be our own darn fault for hitting the pothole in the first place, right?