Hutchison v. Collins

Citations

• 90 Ill. 410

Syllabus

<p>Negligence—opening in sidewalk unprotected—contributory negligence. A person engaged in the erection of a building in the city of Chicago caused an excavation to be made under the adjacent sidewalk, the opening into the excavation being some four feet, in width and twelve feet long. 'The lower tier of planks of the sidewalk outside this area had been covered with a coat of tar, the area itself being covered with boards or planks running lengthwise with the' sidewalk. There was no street lamp or light at the corner where the excavation was, but there were lamps on the opposite corners. There was no railing, fence or barricade around the opening. While the sidewalk was in this condition a passerby, in the night time, who was unacquainted with the condition of the walk, supposing the boards placed over the area were put there for persons to walk upon to avoid the tarred portion of the walk, stepped upon them, and, one of the boards breaking, he was precipitated into the vault below and injured: Held, there was such negligence on the part of the person making the excavation as to render him liable to the party injured, and no such negligence on the part of the latter, by reason of the deceptive appearance of the walk, as to preclude a recovery.</p>