Born v. City of Spokane

Citations

• 27 Wash. 719
• 68 P. 386
• 1902 Wash. LEXIS 446

Syllabus

<p>MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS-PRESENTMENT OF CLAIM FOR INJURIES-CHARTER REGULATIONS AS TO TIME-REASONABLENESS.</p> <p>A provision of a city charter requiring claims for damages against the city to be presented within thirty days as a condition precedent to suit demands only a reasonable compliance with its terms; and a question of fact for the jury may properly be raised in that respect, as to whether or not plaintiff was physically or mentally incapacitated from literally complying therewith.</p> <p>SAME-STATEMENT OF CLAIM-SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF INJURIES.</p> <p>A provision of a city charter requiring a claimant against the city to state the cause, nature and extent of his injuries, and the amount of damages sustained thereby within thirty days after receiving them is a reasonable regulation, although the full extent of the injuries may not be ascertainable within that period; since a reasonable compliance with such regulation by stating as near as possible the amount of damages is all that is required, in view of the fact that the claimant may at the time of trial show damages developing subsequent to the date of notice to the city.</p> <p>SAME- — -DEFECTIVE STREETS-ACTUAL NOTICE TO CITY AS CONDITION PRECEDENT TO SUIT-REASONABLENESS.</p> <p>A charter provision to the effect that the city shall not he liable for damages for injuries sustained in consequence of any street or sidewalk being out of repair, unsafe, or dangerous, unless actual notice of such defect shall have been given to the street superintendent or the city council twenty-four hours before such injury is sustained, is an unreasonable regulation amounting to a denial of justice and therefore void.</p> <p>SAME-NEGLIGENCE-CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF DEFECTIVE STREETS.</p> <p>A city is chargeable with notice of a dangerous opening and its condition, in the sidewalk or street, although actual notice may not have been brought home to it, if it appears that the street or sidewalk has continued in such condition f