Hayes v. City of Cambridge

• Decision Date: 13 January 1885
• Citation: Hayes v. City of Cambridge, 138 Mass. 461 (Mass. 1885)
• Parties: Anna Hayes v. City of Cambridge
• Court: Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

138 Mass. 461

Anna Hayes v. City of Cambridge

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

January 13, 1885

Argued November 17, 1884.

Middlesex.

Exceptions overruled.

W. E Russell, for the plaintiff.

J. W Hammond, for the defendant.

Field & Colburn, JJ., absent. Morton, C. J.

OPINION

Morton, C. J.

The plaintiff was injured, on February 7, 1882, by stepping into a hole in a street-crossing, caused by an accumulation of snow and ice. At the second trial, after the decision reported in 136 Mass. 402, the defendant introduced evidence tending to show that on January 31, and on February 4 and 5, there had been two very heavy snow-storms; and also evidence tending to show the length of the streets it had to clear, and their condition after the storms, the amount of labor it had to do on its streets, the amount it did, and the expenses incurred and the time and labor involved, with a view of showing that the defect which caused the injury could not have been remedied by reasonable care and diligence on its part. Pub. Sts. c. 52, § 18. Rooney v. Randolph, 128 Mass. 580. Hayes v. Cambridge, 136 Mass. 402.

The plaintiff offered in evidence an ordinance of the city, which provides that the tenant, occupant, or abutting owner of land shall, within twenty-four hours after a fall of snow, clear the sidewalks in front of his premises, under a penalty of not less than two nor more than twenty dollars. The court excluded the evidence; and the plaintiff excepted.

The duty of clearing the streets and making them safe and convenient for travellers is primarily upon the city. The ordinance, if valid, does not excuse it from this...