Burgdorf v. Holme-Shaw

Plaintiff appeals from judgment non obstante veredicto for defendant city. He sued for damages resulting from injuries sustained when he rode, after dark on a bicycle, into a clothesline stretched across a public sidewalk.

Under CL 1948, § 242.1 (Stat Ann § 9.591), defendant city is liable to pay just damages to any person injured by reason of its neglect to keep its sidewalk in condition reasonably safe for travel.

In Jablonski v. City of Bay City, 248 Mich 306, it was held that “a wire strung dangerously across a walk,” even though by one not connected with the city government, would be “an…