Hawes v. Inhabitants of Milton
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort under.R. L. c. 51, § 18, for injuries to an automobile of the plaintiff sustained on August 15, 1907, at about 7.30 p. m., when the plaintiff was driving the automobile over the Granite Avenue Bridge, which crosses the Neponset River between that part of Boston called Dorchester and the town of Milton, by reason of a trap door on the Milton half of the bridge having been left open, standing at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the surface of the bridge with its…
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Tort under.R. L. c. 51, § 18, for injuries to an automobile of the plaintiff sustained on August 15, 1907, at about 7.30 p. m., when the plaintiff was driving the automobile over the Granite Avenue Bridge, which crosses the Neponset River between that part of Boston called Dorchester and the town of Milton, by reason of a trap door on the Milton half of the bridge having been left open, standing at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the surface of the bridge with its higher end about one and a half feet' above such surface. Writ dated July 13, 1908. In the Superior Court the case was…
1Opinion of the CourtBraley, J.
The defendant by the St. 1865, c. 192, § 3, was required not only to care for and maintain that portion of the drawbridge extending to the centre of the draw and lying within the limits of the town, but under R. L. c. 51, §§ 1, 18, to keep it in a reasonably safe condition for the use of travellers. If, without deciding, it be assumed that the plaintiff’s automobile was being operated lawfully and the question of his due care was for the jury, yet he cannot recover without some proof that the damage to his property was caused by either a defective condition of the bridge which in the exercise…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Moynihan v. ToddMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1905
- Stoliker v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
- Butterfield v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1889
- Lyman v. County of HampshireMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1885
3Cited by3 opinions
- Bolster v. City of LawrenceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1917
- Norris v. City of NewtonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1926
- Braley v. Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1920