Downes v. Hopkinton
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
Petition, for leave to file the statement required by s. 7, c. 7 6, Pub. Sts., in case of a claim for injury under the highway law. Facts found by the court. May 6, 1892, the highway surveyor was repairing the highway by removing therefrom a large rock by blasting, of which the plaintiff, a traveller, had no notice.
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Petition, for leave to file the statement required by s. 7, c. 7 6, Pub. Sts., in case of a claim for injury under the highway law. Facts found by the court. May 6, 1892, the highway surveyor was repairing the highway by removing therefrom a large rock by blasting, of which the plaintiff, a traveller, had no notice. When she arrived at a point about two hundred and thirty feet from the rock, but not in sight of it, the noise of the blast frightened her horse so that he wheeled around, overturned the carriage, and threw her upon the ground, whereby she was injured. If the foregoing facts are…
1Opinion of the CourtSmith, J.
If it be assumed that the rock which the surveyor was blasting was a defect within the meaning of the statute {P. S., c. 76, s. 1), it was not the cause of her injuries. She did not come in collision with it, was not upset by it, her horse was not frightened by it, nor were any of the fragments, when it was blasted, thrown upon her or upon her horse. They were not within sight of it when the blast occurred. The sole cause of the accident was the sound of the blast.
If the surveyor was guilty of negligence in not giving seasonable notice of the blast to the plaintiff, the law affords her a…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Wakefield v. NewportSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1883
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