Riley v. New England Telephone & Telegraph Co.

The plaintiff sought recovery for injuries sustained when his truck driven by him slid on his icy driveway on Gambier Street, a public way in Newton, .against a pole jointly owned by the defendants in the public way at the corner of the driveway. The judge in the Superior Court directed verdicts for the defendants.

Most of the facts are not in dispute. The plaintiff’s driveway was nine feet wide. There was a stone wall along its inner edge which retained the lawn and the foundation of the plaintiff’s house. There was also a low retaining wall on the driveway’s outer edge between it and the…