Town of Grayville v. Whitaker

Citations

• 85 Ill. 439

Syllabus

<p>1. Municipal corporation—duty as to bridges. It is not the law, that it is always the duty of a municipal corporation, such as an incorporated town, to make bridges in its streets absolutely secure, or to fully protect the public from injury. It is the duty of such corporation, in such cases, to exercise ordinary prudence to accomplish such results. The failure to use every device that will make such a bridge more safe, ought not to be declared by the court, as a matter of law, to be gross negligence. What is required by ordinary prudence, should be submitted to the jury as a matter of fact.</p> <p>2. Contributory negligence — injury from defective bridge. If a municipal corporation is guilty of a want of ordinary care, in making a bridge in its streets secure from danger, but not of gross negligence, in order to entitle a party, injured by falling oif the same, to recover, he must show that he did not, through a want of ordinary care, contribute to the injury.</p> <p>3. But if the jury should find, from the evidence, that the failure of the corporation to guard the bridge by railing, or otherwise, was such as to constitute gross negligence, then the party injured in consequence thereof need not show that he was entirely free from negligence contributory to the injury, but he may recover, if his negligence was slight in comparison with the supposed gross negligence of the corporation.</p>