reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 84 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 12 - Meeting of Proprietors and Occupants of Private Way or Bridge; Warrant; Clerk and Surveyor

Section 12. If four or more persons are the proprietors and rightful occupants of a private way or bridge, and three of them make application in writing to a clerk of the district court of the district or the clerk of the city or town wherein the private way or bridge is located or to a justice of the peace to call a proprietors' meeting, the clerk or justice may issue his warrant therefor, stating the time, place and purpose of the meeting. The warrant shall be posted in a public place of the town in which such way or bridge is situated, seven days at least before the time appointed for the meeting. The proprietors and occupants so assembled shall choose a clerk and surveyor, who shall be sworn. They may determine the manner of calling future meetings, what repairs of the way or bridge are necessary and the proportion of money and of labor and materials to be furnished by each proprietor and occupant for such repairs. The surveyor shall have the same powers with respect to such way or bridge as are exercised by surveyors of highways.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 13 - Refusal or Neglect of Proprietor or Occupant to Comply With Vote

Section 13. A proprietor or occupant who refuses or neglects to comply with such vote, when required by the surveyor, shall be liable to him in contract for the amount of his proportion, with ten per cent interest thereon. If a person chosen clerk or surveyor under the preceding section refuses or neglects to accept that trust and take the oath, he shall forfeit five dollars. Damages and forfeitures recovered under this section shall be applied to the use of the proprietors for repairing said way or bridge.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 14 - Financing Repairs

Section 14. The proprietors and occupants may, at a meeting for that purpose, authorize any person to contract for making and keeping in repair such private way or bridge, may vote to raise such amount as they consider necessary for carrying such contracts into effect; and may choose assessors, who shall assess each proprietor and occupant for his proportion of such amount according to his interest in such way or bridge, and shall deliver the lists of such assessments to the surveyor, with proper warrants of distress, in substance as is prescribed by law for collection of town taxes, and the surveyor may levy and collect such taxes in the same manner as collectors of taxes are empowered to collect taxes. If a surveyor neglects or refuses to pay over according to the direction of his warrant the moneys so collected, he shall be liable to such proprietors or occupants in contract for the amount collected, together with twenty per cent interest in addition thereto.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 15 - Personal Injuries or Property Damage From Defective Ways

Section 15. If a person sustains bodily injury or damage in his property by reason of a defect or a want of repair or a want of a sufficient railing in or upon a way, and such injury or damage might have been prevented, or such defect or want of repair or want of railing might have been remedied by reasonable care and diligence on the part of the county, city, town or person by law obliged to repair the same, he may, if such county, city, town or person had or, by the exercise of proper care and diligence, might have had reasonable notice of the defect or want of repair or want of a sufficient railing, recover damages therefor from such county, city, town or person; but he shall not recover from a county, city, town or local water and sewer commission more than one fifth of one per cent of its state valuation last preceding the commencement of the action nor more than five thousand dollars; nor shall a county, city or town be liable for an injury or damage sustained upon a way laid out and established in the manner prescribed by statute until after an entry has been made for the purpose of constructing the way, or during the construction and repairing thereof, provided that the way shall have been closed, or other sufficient means taken to caution the public against entering thereon. No action shall be maintained under this section by a person the combined weight of whose carriage or vehicle and load exceeds six tons.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 16 - Damage Caused by Excessive Load

Section 16. If a person, without the consent of the county, city, town or person required by law to keep a bridge in repair or his or its agent, permits more than twenty neat cattle or horses to be upon a bridge which is more than fifty feet from one abutment, pier or trestle part to another, or drives or transports over such bridge a vehicle with a load exceeding forty-five hundred pounds in weight exclusive of the team and vehicle, and thereby breaks or injures the bridge, such county, city, town or person shall not be liable for any damage caused thereby.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 17 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 17 - Injury or Damage Caused by Snow or Ice

Section 17. A county, city or town shall not be liable for an injury or damage sustained upon a public way by reason of snow or ice thereon, if the place at which the injury or damage was sustained was at the time of the accident otherwise reasonably safe and convenient for travelers.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 18 - Notice of Injury; Contents; Limitation of Action

Section 18. A person so injured shall, within thirty days thereafter, give to the county, city, town or person by law obliged to keep said way in repair, notice of the name and place of residence of the person injured, and the time, place and cause of said injury or damage; and if the said county, city, town or person does not pay the amount thereof, he may recover the same in an action of tort if brought within three years after the date of such injury or damage. Such notice shall not be invalid or insufficient solely by reason of any inaccuracy in stating the name or place of residence of the person injured, or the time, place or cause of the injury, if it is shown that there was no intention to mislead and that the party entitled to notice was not in fact misled thereby. The words ''place of residence of the person injured'', as used in this and the two following sections, shall include the street and number, if any, of his residence as well as the name of the city or town thereof. Failure to give such notice for such injury or damage sustained by reason of snow or ice shall not be a defense under this section unless the defendant proves that he was prejudiced thereby.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 19 - Service of Notice

Section 19. Such notice shall be in writing, signed by the person injured or by some one in his behalf, and may be given, in the case of a county, to one of the county commissioners or the county treasurer; in the case of a city, to the mayor, the city clerk or treasurer; in the case of a town, to one of the selectmen or to the town clerk or treasurer. If the person injured dies within the time required for giving the notice, his executor or administrator may give such notice within thirty days after his appointment. If by reason of physical or mental incapacity it is impossible for the person injured to give the notice within the time required, he may give it within thirty days after such incapacity has been removed, and if he dies within said thirty days his executor or administrator may give the notice within thirty days after his appointment. Any form of written communication signed by the person so injured, or by some person in his behalf, or by his executor or administrator, or by some person in behalf of such executor or administrator, which contains the information that the person was so injured, giving the name and place of residence of the person injured and the time, place and cause of the injury or damage, shall be considered a sufficient notice.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 20 - Omissions in Notice; Notice of Insufficiency

Section 20. A defendant shall not avail himself in defence of any omission to state in such notice the name or place of residence of the person injured, or the time, place or cause of the injury or damage, unless, within five days after receipt of a notice, given within the time required by law and by an authorized person referring to the injuries sustained and claiming damages therefor, the person receiving such notice, or some person in his behalf, notifies in writing the person injured, his executor or administrator, or the person giving or serving such notice in his behalf, that his notice is insufficient because it fails to state the name or place of residence of the person injured, or the time, place or cause of the injury or damage, as the case may be, and requests forthwith a written notice in compliance with law; provided, that if the notice does not contain either the place of residence of the person injured or the place of residence or business address of the person giving or serving the notice on behalf of the person so injured, such notice of insufficiency shall not be required, and the defendant may avail himself in defence of any omission or defect in the notice. If the person authorized to give such notice, within five days after the receipt of such request, gives a written notice complying with the law as to the name and place of residence of the person injured, and the time, place and cause of the injury or damage, such notice shall have the effect of the original notice, and shall be considered a part thereof.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 21 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 21 - Notice to Owner of Private Property

Section 21. Sections eighteen, nineteen and twenty shall apply to actions against persons founded upon the defective condition of their premises, or of adjoining ways, when caused by or consisting in part of snow or ice resulting from rain or snow and weather conditions; provided, that any such notice may be given by posting it in a conspicuous place on said premises and by leaving it with any person occupying the whole or any part of said premises, if there be such a person, and no such notice shall be invalid by reason of any inaccuracy or misstatement in respect to the owner's name if it appears that such error was made in good faith and did not prevent or unreasonably delay the owner from receiving actual notice of the injury and of the contention that it occurred from the defective condition of his premises or of a way adjoining the same. Failure to give such notice shall not be a defense under this section unless the defendant proves that he was prejudiced thereby.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 22 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 22 - Neglect to Repair Way; Penalty

Section 22. If a town neglects to repair any way which it is obliged to keep in repair, or neglects to make the same reasonably safe and convenient when encumbered with snow, it shall pay such fine as the court may impose.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 23 - Dedicated Ways

Section 23. A way opened and dedicated to the public use, which has not become a public way, shall not, except as provided in the two following sections, be chargeable upon a town as a highway or town way unless laid out and established in the manner prescribed by statute.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 24 - Damage From Defects in Dedicated Ways

Section 24. The board or officer having authority over public ways in a town shall, if the public safety so requires, cause such ways to be closed where they enter upon and unite with an existing public way or may by other sufficient means caution the public against entering thereon; otherwise the town shall be liable for damages arising from defects therein as in the case of ways duly laid out and established.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 25 - Repairs Made on Way Within Six Years of Injury

Section 25. If, upon the trial of an indictment or action brought to recover damages for an injury received by reason of a defect or want of repair or want of sufficient railing in any way, it appears that the defendant has, within six years before such injury, made repairs on such way, it or he shall not deny the location thereof.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 26 - Liability of Abutting Lot Owner

Section 26. If the owner of a lot abutting upon a public way in a city dedicates to the public or permits it to use a portion of his land lying between said way and a building fronting on the same, he shall keep such portion in such condition as, in the opinion of the aldermen, the safety and convenience of the public requires; and if he, after reasonable notice given by the aldermen or the mayor, neglects or refuses to make the specific repairs or improvements so required, or to close the same to public use by a substantial railing or guard, the aldermen may put said land into such condition and assess the expense thereof upon the owner; and assessments so made may be collected in the same manner as betterment assessments.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 27 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 27 - Excavations Abutting Public Way; Liability of Owners

Section 27. If, on premises abutting on a public way, an excavation is a hazard to travelers upon such way who are in the exercise of due care, the person in control of such premises shall be liable in tort to any such traveler who, by reason of a want of a sufficient railing or barrier in or upon such excavation or between such excavation and such way, sustains bodily injury or property damage.
MA Gen L ch 84 § 27a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 84 - Repair of Ways and Bridges|Section 27a - Erection of Barriers at Excavations Abutting Public Ways; Duty of Owner; Penalty

Section 27A. The owner of any land which abuts a public way and on which an excavation has been made within fifty feet of said way shall cause a fence or other barrier not less than five feet in height to be erected at the street line of such way. Such fence or barrier shall not be removed until the area abutting such way has been made level with the same for a distance of fifty feet from said street line. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.
MA Gen L ch 85 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 85 - Regulations and By-Laws Relative to Ways and Bridges|Section 1 - Direction Signs; Erection and Maintenance by Cities and Towns

Section 1. Except as otherwise provided in section two, every city and town shall erect and maintain on the ways therein, except state highways and ways under the control of the department of conservation and recreation, at such places as are convenient for the direction of travelers and at forks or intersections of ways which lead to adjoining cities or towns, direction signs, upon which shall be stated the name of the city, town or place to which each such way leads, and the distance to the same.
MA Gen L ch 85 § 2a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 85 - Regulations and By-Laws Relative to Ways and Bridges|Section 2a - Removal of Vehicles Interfering With Snow and Ice Removal

Section 2A. The department, for the purpose of insuring the free flow of traffic or for the purpose of snow and ice control operations on a state highway, may, by its own employees or with such other assistance as it may require, remove or cause to be removed to the nearest convenient place any vehicle interfering with such traffic or such operation. The department shall keep records of the registration number of each vehicle so removed and of the place to which it was removed.
MA Gen L ch 85 § 2b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 85 - Regulations and By-Laws Relative to Ways and Bridges|Section 2b - Limited Access and Express State Highways; Regulation of Use

Section 2B. The department for purpose of promoting public safety upon limited access and express state highways, may from time to time make, alter, rescind or add to regulations to exclude, govern and restrict the use of such state highways by horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, and vehicles determined by the department, because of their type or because of materials or products being transported, as unsafe for limited access and express state highways, bridges, tunnels or overhead highway structures, which regulations may provide penalties for the violation thereof not exceeding thirty-five dollars for each offense, excepting regulations prohibiting the transportation of unsafe materials or products, the penalties for violation of which shall not exceed five hundred dollars for each offense. The department for the purpose of promoting public safety and convenience during periods of commuter and holiday traffic, inclement weather conditions or construction activity, or for other good cause, may promulgate rules and regulations limiting the time and hours of travel of vehicles one hundred and two inches in width, semi-trailers of up to and including 53 feet in length when operating in semi-trailer unit and tandem units, as defined in section one of chapter ninety, on the National Network, as defined in section nineteen F of chapter ninety, and routes of reasonable access, as designated by the department under provisions of section nineteen G of chapter ninety, or any parts thereof, and such rules and regulations may provide penalties for the violation thereof not exceeding five hundred dollars for each offense.  The state police, may, during declared weather emergencies order all trucks off of the roads.
MA Gen L ch 85 § 2c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 85 - Regulations and By-Laws Relative to Ways and Bridges|Section 2c - Towing of Vehicles From State Highways

Section 2C. The department, for the purpose of promoting public safety and convenience, may authorize by any rule or regulation adopted under this section with such limitations, if any, as may be deemed proper, the colonel of state police and the principal police official of the police department of a city or town, or such sergeants or officers of higher rank as said officers or officials may from time to time designate, to remove, to some convenient place, through the agency of a person or persons in the employ of said police or police force, or by an independent contractor selected on the basis of competitive bids, any vehicle, except a vehicle owned by the commonwealth or a political sub-division thereof or by the United States or an instrumentality thereof or registered by a member of a foreign diplomatic corps or by a foreign consular officer who is not a citizen of the United States and bearing a distinctive number plate or otherwise conspicuously marked as so owned or registered, parked or standing on any part of a state highway in such a manner as to impede in any way the removal or plowing of snow or ice or parked or standing in violation of any rule or regulation adopted under section two which prohibits the parking or standing of all vehicles on such highway or portion thereof at such time and recites that whoever violates it shall be liable to charge for the removal and storage of the vehicle as well as subject to punishment by fine. Liability may be imposed for the reasonable cost of such removal, and for the storage charges, if any, resulting therefrom, upon the owner of such vehicle.