California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Humboldt County v. Shelly, 220 Cal.App.2d 194, 33 Cal.Rptr. 758 (Cal. App. 1963):
In City of Baraboo v. Excelsior Creamery Co. (1920) 171 Wis. 242, 177 N.W. 36, recovery was denied the city because the dangerous and defective condition of the approach to the bridge contributed to the collision of defendant's truck with the bridge. The court stated: 'In order to entitle plaintiff to [220 Cal.App.2d 203] recover, it must appear not only that the driver of the truck was negligent in the manner in which he managed the same, but that no deficiency of the highway contributed to produce the collision. * * * It is a well-settled principle of negligence law that any want of ordinary care, no matter how slight, on the part of the plaintiff, which proximately contributes to the injury, amounts to contributory negligence. We can see no reason why this principle is not applicable in the case of a city suing for damages to which the defective condition of its streets contributed.' (171 Wis. pp. 37-38, 177 N.W. p. 37.)
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