Can a municipality be held liable for the safety of pedestrians who are struck and injured by traps on the sidewalk?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from Cartner v. Burlington (City), 2008 CanLII 37900 (ON SC):
In dismissing liability claims by the plaintiff against the defendants, the Justice concluded that the photographs that he had seen showed a sidewalk that held no traps. It just did not happen to be perfectly smooth. It was not inherently dangerous. Noting the admonishment of the court in Hennessey v. Toronto, 62 O.L.R. 541, that "pedestrians are not entitled to expect perfectly smooth sidewalks with so many miles of sidewalk to be kept in order," he concluded that the standard set out in Hennessey had been met and that the municipality could not be held liable.
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