Court of Exchequer, 1856.
11
Exch. 781, 156 Eng.Rep.
1047.
Prosser,
pp. 132-133
Facts: The defendants installed a
fire plug near the plaintiff’s house that leaked during a severe frost, causing
water damage. The jury found the defendant
negligent, and the defendant appealed.
Issue: Were the defendants negligent?
Rule: The defendants are
negligent only if they fail to do what a reasonable person would have done or
do something a reasonable person would not have done.
Analysis: The court found that the
extreme frost that caused the damage in this case was not within the
contemplation of the defendants and that the result of the frost was an accident.
Conclusion: The court entered a verdict
for the defendants.
Notes
and Questions
1. Based on the
present case, the defendant is not liable because the defendant’s conduct was
reasonable under the circumstances.
2. The contractor
is not required to take precautions in
3. In order to
decide whether failing to plan for lightning is negligence, I would want to
know how likely it is that lightning would strike each of these places, what
measures can be taken to prevent harm from lightning, and how expensive those
measures are in relation to the possible benefit that can be obtained from
preventing such harm.