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Liability of road authority for failure to maintain public road.
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60.—(1) A road authority shall be liable for damage caused as a result of their failure to maintain adequately a public road.
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(2) In proceedings under this section, it shall be a defence for the road authority to prove that—
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(a) they had given sufficient warning that the road was a danger to traffic, or
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(b) they had taken reasonable precautions to secure that the road was not a danger to traffic, or
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(c) they had not a reasonable opportunity to give such warning or take such precautions, or
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(d) the damage resulted from a wrong committed by any person other than the road authority.
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(3) In determining whether a road was adequately maintained, regard shall be had in particular to—
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(a) the construction of the road and the standard of maintenance appropriate to a road of such construction,
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(b) the traffic using the road,
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(c) the condition in which a reasonable person would have expected to find the road.
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(4) In determining whether a road authority had a reasonable opportunity to give warning that a road was a danger to traffic or had taken reasonable precautions to secure that a road was not such a danger, regard shall be had to the standard of supervision reasonable for a road of such character.
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(5) In this section—
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“road authority” means the council of a county, the corporation of a county or other borough and the council of an urban district;
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“public road” means a road the responsibility for the maintenance of which lies on a road authority and includes any bridge, pipe, arch, gulley, footway, pavement, fence, railing or wall which forms part of such road and which it is the responsibility of the road authority to maintain.
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(6) This section shall not apply to damage arising from an event which occurred before the coming into operation of this section.
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(7) This section shall come into operation on such day, not earlier than the 1st day of April, 1967, as may be fixed therefor by order made by the Government.
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