Morton v. Inhabitants of Frankfort
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
On Motion to set aside the verdict. Case for injury sustained by the plaintiff by reason of an alleged defect in a highway in the town of Frankfort, which highway it was admitted the defendants were bound to keep in repair. John A. Riñes, called by the plaintiff, testified : — I was driving a three horse team through Frankfort Marsh village, so called, April 30, 1857, and noticed some men, and oxen and cart, and a plank standing up in the road by the culvert.
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On Motion to set aside the verdict. Case for injury sustained by the plaintiff by reason of an alleged defect in a highway in the town of Frankfort, which highway it was admitted the defendants were bound to keep in repair. John A. Riñes, called by the plaintiff, testified : — I was driving a three horse team through Frankfort Marsh village, so called, April 30, 1857, and noticed some men, and oxen and cart, and a plank standing up in the road by the culvert. One of the men was Freeman C. Parker, surveyor of the district. The road was a gradual descent and smooth from where I was when I first…
1Opinion of the CourtWalton, J.
Towns are not liable for injuries occasioned by such obstructions as are necessarily created in highways in order to repair them, provided reasonable measures are taken to notify travellers of their existence. Such ob*49structions are not in any proper sense defects. They are the necessary means to a lawful end, — means necessary to the performance of a duty imposed by law, — and when reasonable notice of their existence is given, create no liabilities on the part of towns for injuries occasioned by them. To hold towns liable in such cases would be to impose a penalty, not on their negligence,…
2Cited by3 opinions
- City of Portsmouth v. LeeSupreme Court of Virginia · 1911
- Conklin v. Lincoln Traction Co.Nebraska Supreme Court · 1935
- Draeger v. HECKMAN-REYNOLDS COMPANYSupreme Court of Iowa · 1956