46 Fla. 463 | Fla. | 1903
On December 15, 1898, defendants in error brought an action against plaintiff in error in the Circuit Court of Volusia county to recover damages for personal injuries. The declaration alleges that defendant before and on the 12th day of September,v189'7, was possessed and had control of certain public sidewalks and streets, on a certain street called Beach street in said city, and “ought to have kept the same in good and safe repair and condition, yet the defendant not regarding its duty in that behalf while it was so possessed and had control of said sidewalk and street, to-wit: on the day aforesaid, there wrongfully and negligently suffered to be and remain in bad and unsafe repair and condition and divers holes then and there being on said sidewalk and street uncovered and exposed in the night time and dark, said street not being lighted, said holes remained uncovered and exposed to be
The defendant filed its demurrer to the declaration which was overruled, whereupon it filed pleas upon which issue was joined, and at a trial had in November, 1900, verdict and judgment were rendered in favor of plaintiff for $1,000. The defendant seeks to reverse this judgment by the present writ of error.
The only question necessary to be considered, in view of the conclusion reached, arises upon the assignment of error questioning the propriety of the ruling on demurrer. In City of Orlando v. Heard, 29 Fla. 581, 11 South. Rep. 182, it was held that in actions against municipal corporations for injuries resulting from failure to repair streets or sidewalks, the gist of the action is negligence on the part of the corporation, that such corporations are required to exercise reasonable diligence in repairing defects in streets and sidewalks after the unsafe condition thereof is known or ought to have been known to them or to their officers having authority to act for them; that it is essential to liability in such cases to allege in the declaration facts which show negligence on the part of the corporation, and that a general allegation that' the corporation negligently suffered and permitted the street or sidewalk to remain out of repair without alleging knowledge of the defect, the time it was permitted to remain out of repair, or other facts showing negligence on the part of the municipal body, will not be sufficient. The only difference between the declaration in