Sanders v. Inhabitants of Palmer
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort, under the Pub. Sts. c. 52, § 18, for personal injuries caused by an alleged defect in a cross-walk in a highway of the defendant town.
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Tort, under the Pub. Sts. c. 52, § 18, for personal injuries caused by an alleged defect in a cross-walk in a highway of the defendant town. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Bond, J., the defendant was permitted, without objection, to show the population of the town, the population of the different villages in the town, and the proportion of the inhabitants in the village where the accident occurred that would naturally use the cross-walk, and it also offered some evidence as to the number of miles of highway which it was bound to keep in repair. The defendant was also permitted,…
1Opinion of the CourtKnowlton, J.
Since the passage of the St. of 1877, c. 234, (Pub. Sts. c. 52, § 18,) it is competent, in the trial of a suit to recover damages for an injury received from a defect in a highway, to put in evidence any fact which tends to show what the „ town could reasonably have been required to do in keeping its ways safe and convenient for travellers. The length of the roads which it is obliged to maintain, the ease or difficulty of maintaining them, the amount of travel over them, and the amount of assessable property in the town, are all elements to be considered in determining how high a" degree of…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Rooney v. Inhabitants of RandolphMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1880
- Hayes v. City of CambridgeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1884
3Cited by4 opinions
- O'Brien v. City of WoburnMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1904
- Weeks v. Inhabitants of NeedhamMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1892
- Adams v. Inhabitants of StonehamMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1907
- Ledbetter v. City of KirksvilleMissouri Court of Appeals · 1912