Personal Injury Blog

January 25, 2010, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

An injured person brought a claim against a City for injuries received in a  trip and fall accident on a city sidewalk (Anderson v. City of Hamilton).  The injured person had lived in the area for several years and was familar with the sidewalk and its condtion in the area of the fall.  She had walked on the sidewalk many times.  On the night of the accident, she was wearing sandals and walking two dogs.  During the walk she fell in a depression in the sidewalk that she not noticed previously.  While she indicated that she could see the sidewalk on the night of the accident, an expert testifying on her behalf indicated that the natural and artificial lighting were inadequate to reveal the depression.  The injured person fractured her wrist in the fall.  The City inspected the sidewalks on a yearly basis and had determined that the sidewalk in the area of the fall did not require maintenance at the time of the inspection.

The trial judge determined that the sidewalk was not in a state of non-repair.  At the deepest section, the depression where the injured person fell was 5/8ths of an inch.  In the area of the fall the injured person had previously indicated in her examination for discovery that she could see the sidewalk from both natuarl and artifical lighting provided by a nearby lamp post.  Further, she had walked the sidewalk many times and she was well aware of the state of the sidewalk.  The trial judge also determined that the injured person had a duty to walk in a safe manner.  The trial judge also held that even if the sidewalk was considered to be in a state of non-repair, the City was still not liable for the injuries suffered because it had a regular inspection routine which it followed.

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Paquette Travers & Deutschmann serve South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann and Doug O’Toole focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us toll-free at 1-866-414-4878.

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