• 2006 - Liability of Municipality for Damages Caused by [Snow and Ice][Frost or Loose Snow] on [Sidewalk] [Crosswalk]
  • C-16.10
    • Highways And Roadways
    • Public Entities
    • Streets And Sidewalks
    • Tort Liability
    • Tort Liability

  • A municipality is not at fault for damages or injuries suffered or sustained by reason of accumulation of snow and ice upon a [sidewalk] [crosswalk] within the municipality unless the executive officer, the governing body [city council] [city commission], [or] a police officer of the municipality had actual knowledge of the defective, unsafe, or dangerous condition of the [sidewalk] [crosswalk] at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the damage or injury.

     

    Actual knowledge of the defective condition is not presumed and may not be inferred from the fact that the condition existed. It must be proved as an independent fact.

     

    However, if the municipality had actual knowledge of the existence of the condition, you are free to decide whether snow and ice were present at the time of the mishap in such form as to be a proximate cause of the Plaintiff's injuries.

     

    [A municipality is not at fault for damages or injuries occasioned through the mere slippery condition of the [sidewalk] [crosswalk] due to the presence of frost or loose snow.]

    * * * * *

    • 12.1-14-03
    • 40-42-05
    • Haugen v. City of Grand Forks, 187 NW2d 68 (ND 1971)
  • Notes: For situations involving snow and ice on stairways and sidewalks abutting municipally owned buildings, see Makeeff v. City of Bismarck, 2005 ND 60, 693 NW2d 639. For claims involving injuries occurring in other areas which are not sidewalks or crosswalks, of a municipality, see NDJI C-16.07.