President of the Baltimore & Fredericktown Turnpike Co. v. Hebb

Citations

• 88 Md. 132
• 40 A. 879
• 1898 Md. LEXIS 177

Syllabus

<p>Turnpike Companies — Negligence—Liability for Unsafe Condition of Road — Evidence—Bill of Exception.</p> <p>Several piles of unbroken stone were placed on defendant’s turnpike road at a point where there was an unprotected embankment on one side several feet deep. Only about twelve feet of the road was in a proper condition for travel, while defendant’s charter required it to keep the road open for a width of sixty-six feet. The piles of stone had remained on the road for several months. Plaintiff was driving along at this point on a dark night, using due care, when his horse ran into a pile of stone, and becoming frightened, ran away, upsetting the vehicle and throwing the plaintiff down the embankment. Held, that there was sufficient evidence to show that defendant negligently permitted the road to be in an unsafe condition for ordinary travel and that the plaintiff is entitled to recover damages for his injury.</p> <p>In an action against a turnpike company for damages caused by the unsafe condition of the road at a point where there was an unprotected embankment, a witness may be asked whether in former years there had been a railing at the place where the accident occurred.</p> <p>When an exception is taken to the ruling of the Court in allowing a certain question to be asked, the answer of the witness should be set forth in that bill of exception and not in another bill.</p> <p>When the charter of a turnpike company requires it to keep the road open for a specified width, it is the duty of the company to maintain the whole of this space in a safe condition for travel.</p>