Liability for Damage to Lamp Posts.
Page 2
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Barnes U.D.C. versus The London General Omnibus Company, Limited.
A decision of considerable importance to motor omnibus proprietors has been given by His Honour Judge Harington, sitting at the Wandsworth County Court. The action was brought by the Urban District Council of Barnes, against the London General Omnibus Company, Limited, Mr. R. W. Turner (instructed by Mr, J. E. Anderson) appeared for the council and Mr. Ernest Charles (instructed by Messrs. Hicks, Davis and Hunt) appeared for the company.
The particulars of claim comprised 18 instances in which lamp posts had been damaged by the defendant company's omnibuses, but it was agreed that four only should be dealt with as test cases. In one of the test cases, the damage was caused through the skidding of the omnibus, and in the others the damage was caused without any skidding. The plaintiffs' case was founded on negligence, and in the alternative it was alleged that the motor omnibuses were a nuisance.
In the skidding case, His Honour found that on the particular occasion in question the driver acted negligently, and judgment was therefore given for the plaintiffs. In the non-skidding cases, the judge found that in none of the three cases was there any negligent driving, and he also found that the omnibuses were not a nuisance.
In the course of his judgment, Judge Harington said :
" These motor omnibuses have been travelling along the highways in question for the past 2 years, and it was admitted by the electrical engineer to the Urban District Council that they were aware, during the whole of that period, that in every case, if the omnibus were in a certain position on the highway, it would strike the lamps, and in some instances the position of the lamp posts had been altered for their protection. " The local authority have a duty imposed on them to keep their roads in a condition fit for the traffic that may reasonably be expected on them, and it appears to me that the roads were not, at the time that these several lamp posts were damaged, in such a reasonably fit condition, because I am satisfied upon the evidence that the accidents of the 31st October, ngo6, the 27th August and the 17th September, 1937, were due to three circumstances, i.e., the position of the lamp posts, the camber of the roadway, and the height and construction of the omnibuses.
" The omnibuses, as was admitted, are constructed in accordance with the police regulations, and licensed to run on the highway."
Leave to appeal was granted.
[It appears to us that this judgment follows the principle laid down in Attorney-General v. Scott, which ease was supported by the National Traction Engine Owners' and Users' Association,—En.]