Wetmore Township v. Chamberlain

Citations

• 64 Kan. 327
• 67 P. 845
• 1902 Kan. LEXIS 205

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>Townships — Injuries from Defective Highway — Insufficient Precautions — Contributory Negligence. Township authorities were engaged in substituting a new bridge for an old one. While the bridge was out, a traveler who had no knowledge of the defect in the highway drove into the opening in the dusk of the evening and was injured. Warnings that the bridge was out had been placed at two points in the highway near the bridge, but they were insufficient to attract the attention of the traveler. A temporary barrier which had been placed at the end of the bridge had also been removed without the consent of the township authorities. Like barriers had been previously removed by persons other than the township authorities. Held, in an action to recover damages for the injuries sustained, that as the warnings were of such a character as easily to escape the attention of travelers, and as the barrier had been previously removed, the question whether they were sufficient for the intended purpose was properly submitted to the jury, and that no error was committed by the court in refusing to hold as a matter of law that the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence.</p>