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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Brooks v. Manzaro, 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 31 (2008)

Citation
Brooks v. Manzaro, 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 31 (2008)
Parent Document
Brooks v. Manzaro, 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 31 (2008)
Jurisdiction
Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date
2008-12-01

Full Text

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Landowners have been held liable for unnatural accumulations when there was evidence that “human activity . . . rather than the prevailing weather conditions, caused the area where the plaintiff fell to become hazardous.” Athas v. United States, 904 F.2d 79, 82 1st Cir. 1990). For example, an accumulation may be unnatural, and thus actionable, where the snow and ice is altered by vehicle or pedestrian traffic and the owner knew or should have known of the hazardous condition. See Phipps v. Aptucxet Post No. 5988 V.F.W. Bldg. Ass’n, 7 Mass.App.Ct. 928, 929 (1979) (duty attached where there were “footprints ... and ruts like automobile tire tracks that had been frozen,” and the conditions were left unaddressed).