194 Ky. 645 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1922
Opinion op the Court by
Affirming.
Sadie Cummings -sued the city -of Ashland to recover damages for personal injuries resulting from a sidewalk accident. From a verdict and judgment in her favor for $1,000.00 the city appeals.
The accident happened in the following way: On December 3, 1918, Mrs. Cummings, while walking along a board sidewalk on Church street in the city of Ashland, met a Mr. Curtis, -who weighed about 250 pounds. When they met, Mr. Curtis stepped to one side to allow Mrs. Cummings to pass. The board on which he stepped tilted up and tripped Mrs. Cummings, causing her to fall and bréale her leg. The boards were loose because the stringers were rotten and would not hold the nails, and this condition had existed for a year or more.
It is insisted that the -city was ¡entitled to a peremptory because the street ¡on which the accident happened had never been accepted as a public -street, but was an unimproved road in a sparsely settled portion of tbe city and not necessary for tbe convenience of the public, and for tbe .further reason that the sidewalk was a private walk, built and maintained for tbe use of a church and not the public generally.
There is no dispute as to the facts. Many years ago, certain territory lying between tbe city of Ashland and tbe -city of Catlettsburg was subdivided and laid off into lots with streets and alleys, and a plat thereof was filed in the office of the Boyd county -clerk. The main thoroughfare between the two ¡cities ran through the subdivision and was known as Winchester avenue. One of the streets of the subdivision was known as Church street.
The facts being undisputed, and clearly sufficient to show that Church street was a public street of the city,
As the given instructions fully covered the law of the case, the court did not err in refusing the instructions offered by the defendant.
It is clear from the evidence that Mrs. Cummings suffered a painful fracture. She was confined to the hospital for twenty-eight days and for a period of five months was unable to walk without the use of crutches. The doctor testified that her limb had been weakened, and that she would suffer more or less pain, and that this condition would probably continue the rest of her life. ■In addition to this, plaintiff suffered special damages for doctor’s bills, hospital bills, lost time, etc., amounting to about $350.00. In view of these facts, there is no -merit in the contention that the damages were excessive, or that the court erred in authorizing a recovery for permanent injuries.
Judgment affirmed.