Lambert v. Pembroke
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
Case, for injuries upon a highway. The plaintiff’s evidence tended to show that while she was walking upon a sidewalk in a highway, the sidewalk sank beneath her, and she was injured. The sidewalk was built several years before the accident by the adjoining owner, who dug a cellar and erected a building upon the line of the highway. At the time of the building, an opening was left in the cellar wall designed for a bulkhead.
Read the full summary
Case, for injuries upon a highway. The plaintiff’s evidence tended to show that while she was walking upon a sidewalk in a highway, the sidewalk sank beneath her, and she was injured. The sidewalk was built several years before the accident by the adjoining owner, who dug a cellar and erected a building upon the line of the highway. At the time of the building, an opening was left in the cellar wall designed for a bulkhead. Subsequently the owner of the building closed tbe opening in tbe wall with plank, filled in in front with earth, and laid a brick sidewalk. Either from decay or from…
1Opinion of the CourtBlodgett, J.
Sidewalks, when a part of the public highways, must be properly constructed and guarded, and kept in suitable repair (Hall v. Manchester, 40 N. H. 410, 414) ; and there being no provision in the statute as to damages which limits the liability of towns and cities to open defects, it extends to all defects which render them unsuitable for the travel thereon. G L., c. 75, s. 1; Burt v. Boston, 122 Mass. 223, 226. Among such defects are those resulting from natural decay or from faulty construction. Howe v. Plainfield, 41 N. H. 135, 138; Bardwell v. Jamaica, 15 Vt. 438, 442 ; Alexander v. Mt.…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Bardwell v. Town of JamaicaSupreme Court of Vermont · 1843
- Alexander v. President of Mt. SterlingIllinois Supreme Court · 1874
- Burt v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1877
3Cited by3 opinions
- Ross v. BrownSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1917
- Hickey v. BerlinSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1915
- Munroe v. DeerfieldSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1929