Bbooks v. Inhabitants of Acton
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by a defect in a highway in the defendant town. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Bacon, J., it was admitted that the defendant was bound to keep the highway in repair.
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Tort to recover for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by a defect in a highway in the defendant town. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Bacon, J., it was admitted that the defendant was bound to keep the highway in repair. The plaintiff put in evidence tending to show that on the evening of February 15, 1873, while travelling with a horse and sleigh along the highway, a defect therein, where it crossed a railroad at grade, caused his horse to jump and run up a hill, when the plaintiff, to save his life, the horse being beyond his control, attempted to guide the horse up a…
1Opinion of the CourtWells, J.
1. The defect complained of was a ridge of ice and snow across the highway, caused by ploughing out the snow from the railroad track. The snow thus thrown up, with the corresponding depression along the rail, produced an irregularity in the path of the travel upon the highway. The testimony as to the depth of the ice and snow in the highway, that is, the height of the ridge, or depth of the groove, varied widely, and was conflicting. The plaintiff offered to prove, by a witness who had measured it, the depth of the snow in the woods in the neighborhood, on the day of the accident. The…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Nash v. HuntMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1874
- Cook v. City of CharlestownMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1867
- Cook v. Inhabitants of MontagueMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1874
3Cited by10 opinions
- Mayor of Macon v. DykesSupreme Court of Georgia · 1898
- Nestor v. GeorgeSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1946
- Ducharme v. Holyoke Street Railway Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1909
- Bennett v. SusserMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1906
- Pierce v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1895
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