INJURIES FROM FRIGHT AND DEFECT IN HIGHWAY. 195 



warned. The necessity of the raiHng "must be determined by 

 the character of the place or object between which and the 

 travelled road it is claimed that the barrier should be inter- 

 posed." '' And where a horse, driven along a private way 

 toward a street at right angles to it, became uncontrollable so 

 that the driver could not make him turn safely but drove him 

 directly across the street and down an unfenced bank oppo- 

 site, it was held that the want of a railing, even if it had been 

 useful, was not the sole cause of the injury. "The uncon- 

 trollable condition of the horse contributed directly to it, and 

 that condition arose outside of the limits of the highway and 

 at such a distance from the place of the alleged defect that 

 the city is not responsible." ^ 



In Maine, a similar rule to that in Massachusetts prevails, 

 and it is well established that where the animal is frightened 

 by a cause for which the town is not responsible, no liability 

 is incurred by his subsequent injury through a defect in the 

 highway, where such injury would not otherwise have oc- 

 curred.^ 



In Pennsylvania, where a horse was frightened at an object 

 on a highway for the presence of which the township was not 

 responsible and, turning suddenly, broke ofif a wheel and 

 dragged and overturned the carriage on a stone heap at the 

 roadside at a point where the roadway was not unsafe for 

 ordinary travel, it was held that the township was not liable. 

 The court said : "The township is not an insurer against all 

 possible accidents, nor is it bound to anticipate the danger to 

 which a broken wagon or a frightened horse may expose the 

 driver. ... It is necessary tO' inquire further whether the 

 accident was the natural or probable result of any act or omis- 



' Adams v. Natick, 13 Allen (Mass.) 429. And see Scannal v. Cam- 

 bridge, 163 Mass. 91. 



' Higgiris V. Boston, 148 Mass. 484. 



' Moore v. Abbot, 32 Me. 46; Farrar v. Greene, Ibid. 574; Coombs v. 

 Topsham, 38 id. 204; Anderson v. Bath, 42 id. 346; Moulton v. Sanford, 

 51 id. 127; Perkins v. Fayette, 68 id. 152; Spaulding v. Winslow, 74 id. 528. 



CI. Verrill v. Minot, 31 Me. 299. 



