Brief Fact Summary. Fletcher (Plaintiff), a blind man, fell into a ditch excavated by the City of Aberdeen (Defendant). Defendant failed to provide proper barricades up at the time Plaintiff fell. Plaintiff sued Defendant for negligence.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. The duty of maintaining the sidewalks and adjacent parking strips is a continuing one. A city is obligated to afford that degree of protection, which would bring notice to a person with a physical disability, the danger being encountered.
A municipality has a duty to maintain its parking strips in a reasonably safe condition.
View Full Point of LawIssue. Must the city exercise a standard of care above that of an ordinary person for a disabled person?
Held. Yes. Judgment for Plaintiff affirmed.
* The duty of maintaining the sidewalks and the adjacent parking strips is a continuing one. In this case, the city is negligent when it removes proper and necessary barricades without giving pedestrians other types of warning.
* The city is charged with knowledge that those who are physically infirm as well as those in perfect physical condition will use its streets. The person under a physical disability is obligated to use the care, which a reasonable person under the same or similar disability would exercise under the circumstances. The city is obligated to use the care, which would give notice to a physically disabled person a danger to be encountered.
Discussion. In this case the court held that Defendant, a city, is obligated at all times to warn pedestrians of dangers encountered on the sidewalk, whether that pedestrian be physically disabled or in perfect health.