Case Name: WESLEY v. CITY OF DETROIT
Court: Michigan Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1898-07-18
Citations: 117 Mich. 658
Docket Number: 
Parties: WESLEY v. CITY OF DETROIT.
Judges: Hooker and Long, JJ., concurred with Grant, C. J.
Reporter: Michigan Reports
Volume: 117
Pages: 658–661

Head Matter:
WESLEY v. CITY OF DETROIT.
Municipal Corporations — Sidewalks—Ioe and Snow.
Upon paving a street, defendant lowered the sidewalk, so that it lay 18 inches below a sidewalk on an intersecting street, with which it had previously been level. About three feet of the intersecting walk, which lay six inches above the ground, being cut off, the earth gradually wore away, so that the earth ' walk inclined 12 inches in the three feet. Upon this inclined walk, ice and snow collected, and plaintiff, attempting to pass over it, slipped and was injured. Held, that the walk, except for the ice and snow, was in a reasonably safe condition, and that the case was within the rule that a municipality is not liable for accidents caused by the natural accumulation of ioe and snow upon its walks. Moore and Montgomery, JJ., dissenting.
Error to Wayne; Hosmer, J.
Submitted April 26,1898.
Decided July 18, 1898.
Case by Henry Wesley against the city of Detroit for personal injuries. From a judgment for defendant on verdict directed by the court, plaintiff .brings error.
Affirmed.
May & Moloney, for appellant.
John J. Speed, for appellee.
Rehearing denied December 28, 1898.

Opinion:
Grant, C. J.
I think the court was correct in directing a verdict. The sidewalk was in a condition in which the city had a right to leave it. If there had been a plank or stone walk of the same incline as the ground, it would have been equally, if not more, dangerous. It was not unsafe or dangerous in its original condition. It was made unsafe solely by the accumulation of ice and snow. Sidewalks and streets must have inclines, and, whatever may be the decisions of the courts of other States, it is settled in this State that municipalities are not liable for accidents caused by the natural accumulations of ice and snow. Gavett v. City of Jackson, 109 Mich. 408 (32 L. R. A. 861); Hutchinson v. City of Ypsilanti, 103 Mich. 12. See, also, authorities cited in these two cases. All inclined sidewalks become dangerous for pedestrians when covered with ice. All the law requires is that the municipality shall keep them otherwise in a reasonably safe condition.
The judgment is affirmed.
Hooker and Long, JJ., concurred with Grant, C. J.