Havird v. Richmond County
| Decision Date | 26 April 1933 |
| Docket Number | 21924. |
| Citation | 171 S.E. 220,47 Ga.App. 580 |
| Parties | HAVIRD v. RICHMOND COUNTY. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Rehearing Denied Sept. 29, 1933.
Syllabus by Editorial Staff.
Fill or embankment constituting approach to bridge, and necessary to make access thereto, is part of "bridge," within statute making county liable for injuries caused by "defective bridges" (Civ. Code 1910, § 748).
Statute making county liable for injuries caused by defective bridges held applicable to embankment leading to bridge built before 1888, which was rebuilt and adjusted to bridge built in 1930 (Civ. Code 1910, § 748).
"Defect," within statute making county liable for injuries caused by "defective bridges," includes any condition of bridge rendering it unsafe for travelers (Civ. Code 1910, § 748).
Petition against county for injuries automobilist sustained when automobile ran into unlighted barricade upon embankment approaching bridge stated cause of action against county (Civ. Code 1910, § 748).
Petition alleged that barricade was negligently maintained by defendant county, in the nighttime without lights or warning upon an approach to a bridge, which constituted a part of the bridge; that the bridge had been erected since 1888; and that plaintiff, as a proximate result of defendant's negligence, was injured by the automobile, in which plaintiff was traveling along the road on the bridge, running into the barricade.
County held liable for injuries caused by defective bridge notwithstanding bridge was over stream on state boundary (Civ. Code 1910, §§ 424, 748).
Error from City Court of Richmond County; Gordon W. Chambers Judge.
Suit by Ruth Havird, by next friend, against Richmond County, etc. To review a judgment for defendant, plaintiff brings error.
Reversed.
W. D. Lanier, of Augusta, for plaintiff in error.
Hammond & Kennedy and F. Frederick Kennedy, all of Augusta, for defendant in error.
Syllabus OPINION.
1. A fill or an embankment in a road which constitutes the approach to a bridge and which is necessary to make access to the bridge is a part of the bridge. Daniels v. Town of Athens, 55 Ga. 609; City of Augusta v. Hudson, 94 Ga. 135, 21 S.E. 289; Howington v. Madison County, 126 Ga. 699, 55 S.E. 941; Morgan County v. Glass, 139 Ga. 415, 77 S.E. 583.
2. Where a new bridge was erected across a river, and a fill or an embankment in the roadway which led to the old bridge was, after having been damaged by flood waters, rebuilt and adjusted to the new bridge, and this structure constituted a new bridge, and such new bridge was erected in the year 1930, section 748 of the Civil Code of 1910, which is a codification of an act of 1888, providing for liability against a county for injuries caused by reason of "any defective bridges," is applicable. Warren County v. Evans, 118 Ga. 200, 44 S.E. 986; Helvingston v. Macon County, 103 Ga. 106, 29 S.E. 596; Joyce v. Whitfield County, 28 Ga.App. 797, 113 S.E. 52.
3. A defect in a bridge, which serves as the...
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