DocketNumber: No. 28570.
Citation Numbers: 129 P.2d 795, 15 Wash. 2d 130
Judges: STEINERT, J.
Filed Date: 10/14/1942
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 1/13/2023
The case at bar is indistinguishable in principle from Jamesv. Burchett, ante p. 119,
If the water had fallen from that portion of the building leased by appellant and had caused the sidewalk in front of that portion of the building to become slippery, it would have constituted a nuisance and the appellant would be liable for injuries caused thereby, even though the ice had not become rough and lumpy. Drake v. Taylor,
In the case at bar, vehicles which entered appellant's place of business over the driveway dropped lumps of snow and ice on the driveway and caused ridges to be formed. A lowering of the temperature at night resulted in freezing of the snow and ice on the driveway thereby making the driveway rough, lumpy, and dangerous to pedestrians proceeding along the sidewalk, and discommoded the lawful use of the sidewalk by pedestrians. At the common law any act or obstruction which unnecessarily impedes the lawful use of a highway by the public is a nuisance. Angell on Highways (3rd ed.), p. 274, § 223.
The use by appellant of the sidewalk was subordinate to the use of that sidewalk by pedestrians. *Page 146
"`The primary and dominant purpose of a street is for public passage, and any appropriation of it by legislative sanction to other objects must be deemed to be in subordination to this use, unless a contrary intent is clearly expressed.' (Hudson RiverTel. Co. v. Watervliet T. Ry. Co.,
In Den Braven v. Public Service Electric Gas Co.,
Whether the driveway was in such condition that it constituted a nuisance at the time of the accident was a question of fact for the jury and not a question of law for the court. The judgment should be affirmed.
BLAKE and DRIVER, JJ., concur with MILLARD, J. *Page 147