California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Dolquist v. City of Bellflower, 196 Cal.App.3d 261, 241 Cal.Rptr. 706 (Cal. App. 1987):
Although it is for the court to determine whether, as a matter of law, a given defect is not dangerous, the court should not rely solely on the size of the particular defect in making that determination. "While size may be one of the most relevant factors to the decision, it is not always the sole criterion." (Fielder v. City of Glendale (1977) 71 Cal.App.3d 719, 734, 139 Cal.Rptr. 876.) In making the determination of whether a claimed defect is trivial as a matter of law and therefore not a "dangerous condition" within the meaning of Government Code section 830, in the context of a claim against a public entity, the court should not only consider the size of the defect; other criterion should also be considered including circumstances surrounding the accident which might have rendered the defect more dangerous than its mere abstract size would indicate. (Id. at pp. 731-732, 139 Cal.Rptr. 876.)
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