Louden v. State

Claimant’s ward, an infant ten and a half years of age, while riding a bicycle. downgrade on a State highway, skidded on a “ bleeding ” tar patch which had recently been installed as part of the routine highway maintenance. He was thrown to the pavement, sustaining such a severe fracture of the left elbow as to necessitate amputation of the arm about three inches below the shoulder.

The authorities uniformly stand for the proposition that the State, while not an insurer of safety, nevertheless owes to the traveling public a duty to construct and maintain its highways in a reasonably safe…