City of Corbin v. Benton
| Decision Date | 10 January 1913 |
| Citation | 152 S.W. 241,151 Ky. 483 |
| Parties | CITY OF CORBIN v. BENTON. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Whitley County.
Action by Effie Benton against the City of Corbin. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded, with directions.
M. A Gray, of Corbin, and Stephens & Steely, of Williamsburg, for appellant.
R. S Rose, of Middlesboro, P. W. Hardin and S. S. Lawson, both of Williamsburg, and P. H. Spencer, of Middlesboro, for appellee.
Plaintiff Effie Benton, while crossing one of the streets in the city of Corbin, fell into a ditch or culvert, and was injured. She brought this action against defendant, the city of Corbin, to recover damages. From a verdict and judgment in her favor for $200, the city of Corbin appeals.
A reversal is asked because of the alleged error of the trial court in refusing to direct a verdict in favor of the defendant. The determination of this question requires a brief statement of the facts.
The accident happened at the crossing of Kentucky and Monroe streets. The pavements at that point are concrete, while the regular street crossing is made of two rows of stone, running parallel, each stone being 12 or 15 inches in width. Upon the opposite side of the street from where plaintiff was injured the pavement is higher, and some stone steps are built to reach the pavement. At the time of her injury plaintiff was not using the regular crossing, but was walking over a culvert, which is frequently used by the traveling public as a crossing. This culvert runs diagonally across the street and was built for the purpose of conducting a small branch under the street. The culvert is 22 inches wide and 18 inches deep. Its sides are walled with stone, and it is covered with flagstones three or more inches in thickness. At the place of the accident these flagstones are laid against the concrete pavement; the top of the flagstones being six inches below the pavement. In the center of the street where the roadway is built the flagstones are covered with dirt. At each end of the culvert, next to the sidewalk, there is no dirt over the flagstones. Plaintiff says that she had left the regular crossing and was proceeding along the culvert for the purpose of crossing over from one street to the other. It was in the daytime, and she was pushing her baby in a go-cart. She had just placed the front wheels of the go-cart upon the sidewalk, which was higher than the street, and was about to put the back wheels up when she stepped on the second stone from the pavement, and it slipped and she went into the ditch, causing her certain injuries which it is not necessary to describe. The stone was broken. She had been using the crossing off and on for about six years, and, so far as she noticed, the appearance and condition of the stone covering the culvert were the same as they had always been. Plaintiff's sister, after describing plaintiff's injuries, testified that she had frequently passed over the crossing where the accident occurred. She had never noticed anything wrong with the stone. The danger was not such as you could detect in crossing over. This witness also stated that the stone was 22 or 23 inches long, and it rested along the side of the culvert about two inches where it slipped.
According to the evidence for the defendant, as given by its mayor, its city attorney, and its street commissioner, the stone which broke and fell into the culvert was 3 feet and 3 inches in length, 10 inches wide at one end, and 15 inches wide at the other. Where the stone broke it was 12 inches wide. It was 3 inches thick at one end and 3 1/8 inches thick at the other. In the middle it was 3 inches thick. The stone was freshly broken. None of the officers of the city had any knowledge of any defect in the stone or of its being negligently placed or being out of place, nor was there anything in its appearance to indicate any of these conditions. We have frequently held that a municipality is not an insurer against accidents to...
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Goodman v. Village of McCammon
...Under the facts and circumstances of this case the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur has no application. In the case of Corbin v. Benton, 151 Ky. 483, 152 S.W. 241, 43 R. A., N. S., 591, the court said: "To say, therefore, that the breaking or slipping of a stone, shown to be in every way suffi......
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Morrow v. City of Harlan
...of a defect in a sidewalk or street, for there is great opportunity for intervening and independent causes. City of Corbin v. Benton, 151 Ky. 483, 152 S.W. 241, 43 L.R.A.,N.S., 591; City of Louisville v. Moore, 267 Ky. 536, 102 S.W.2d 989, 990. Such is the present case. In City of Louisvill......
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Quest v. Town of Upton
... ... 125; ... Jackson v. Boone, (Ga.) 20 S.E. 46; Owen v. New ... York, 126 N.Y.S. 38; City v. Benton, (Ky. ) 152 ... S.W. 241; Beck v. Germantown, 77 A. 448; ... Atchinson Co. v. Taylor, ... ...
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