162 Iowa 720 | Iowa | 1913
The appellant received certain injuries as the result of a fall while passing along a sidewalk in the city of Missouri Valley. She brought action to recover damages, alleging that the city was negligent: (1) In permitting the construction and maintenance of the sidewalk at a grade which was steeper than the established grade of the street to which it was adjacent, which it is alleged was dangerous
I. Appellant’s accident and injury occurred about 8:30 o’clock a. m. Wednesday,. December 7, 1910. On the preceding Sunday and Monday there had been a fall of snow, estimated by witnesses as from three to five inches in depth. On the night before the accident there had been an additional snowfall of about one-half inch. Between Sunday and Tuesday evening there had been a slight thaw, the effect of which was to remove some, but not all, of the snow from the walk. In the center of the walk, which was of concrete structure, a path had been made by travelers over it. The effect of the travel along the path had been to create ridges or uneven conditions raised by the imprint and pressure of feet in the snow, followed by freezing, which made the raised places more or less solid. The walk was sloping, being built upon a hillside; the grade of descent, at the point where the accident occurred, being near fifteen per cent. At the time of the accident, the appellant was going down the hill, upon the sidewalk.
, „ „ 4. Same : notice of defects. There is in the record evidence which tends to show that prior to the time of the accident, complaint of the condition of the walk had been made by a _ citizen to an official of the city; but even if this be held as notice, it did not reach the condition which is the controlling one in this case.
Such variance arising, does it follow that in failing to follow the established grade the city was negligent in such manner as to contribute to the injury of the appellant? We have been cited to no case holding that under such conditions, where
In the present ease the appellant slipped upon the snow-covered ice. That was the operating cause of her fall. It is possible the increased slope of the walk had something to do with it, and likewise possible that it did not, and a conclusion as to either is necessarily a matter of speculation, without the support of substantial proof. Under such conditions the grade slant of the sidewalk cannot be held to be a contributing eause to the injury. Taylor v. Yonkers, supra; Moore v.
We agree with the conclusion reached by the trial court, and its judgment is Affirmed.