Hodgkins v. Inhabitants of Rockport
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. Trial in the Superior Court, before Lord, J., who, after verdict for the plaintiff for $987.50, reported the case to this court in substance as follows: At the trial, it was admitted that School Street was a highway which the defendant was bound to keep in repair, and that it had been maintained by the town for many years.
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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. Trial in the Superior Court, before Lord, J., who, after verdict for the plaintiff for $987.50, reported the case to this court in substance as follows: At the trial, it was admitted that School Street was a highway which the defendant was bound to keep in repair, and that it had been maintained by the town for many years. The plaintiff put in evidence tending to show that he met with an accident in School Street, in the afternoon of July 12, 1872 that he had previously received…
1Opinion of the CourtColt, J.
The question whether a hole in a culvert, covered with a flat stone, is so covered as to make the highway safe and convenient for travel, is a practical question of fact, depending on a variety of considerations. The size of the hole; its location, with reference to the line of public travel; the weight and shape of the stone, with the means employed to keep it in place; its liability to displacement by accident or design, or by the public travel over it, are all to be taken into account. It was submitted to the jury in this case with careful and accurate instructions, under which they must…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Ryerson v. Inhabitants of AbingtonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
3Cited by5 opinions
- Hanscom v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1886
- Post v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1886
- Clinton v. Inhabitants of RevereMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1907
- Monies v. City of LynnMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1877
- Purple v. Inhabitants of GreenfieldMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1884