4/16/91 2186s 0623L

6/12/91 3295s 91-0820

SENATE BILL - FINAL VERSION

SENATE BILL NO.   151-FN     (CHAPTER 385, LAWS OF 1991)

INTRODUCED BY: Sen. Fraser of Dist. 4

REFERRED TO: Transportation

AN ACT to protect municipalities against liability in the construction and maintenance of highways, streets and sidewalks.

                                                                            

ANALYSIS

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SB 151-FN

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the year of Our Lord one thousand

nine hundred and ninety-one

AN ACT

to protect municipalities against liability in the construction

and maintenance of highways, streets and sidewalks.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Represen-

tatives in General Court convened:

frost; that the number, length, and degree of use of highways and sidewalks in a community is not necessarily related to that community's population or financial resources; and that the existing construction standard or state of repair of any highway or sidewalk is a product of its unique history of capital investments, made at different times, in response to differing and evolving needs of the traveling public. It is, therefore, unreasonable to expect that all highways and sidewalks will be routinely patrolled or subject to regular preventive maintenance, or that all such highways and sidewalks should be constructed and maintained to any uniform standards. The general court finds, therefore, that municipalities, in the exercise of their statutory duty to maintain certain highway and sidewalks, should not be held as guarantors of the safety of the traveling public, nor guarantors of any particular condition or standard of construction or maintenance, nor should they be held liable under a standard of ordinary negligence.

Liability of Municipalities

and shall set forth in general terms the location of such highway, bridge, or sidewalk and the nature of such insufficiency.

danger signals to be placed to warn persons by day or night of such insufficiency, and shall, within 72 hours thereafter, develop a plan for repairing such highway, bridge, or sidewalk and shall implement such plan in good faith and with reasonable dispatch until the highway, bridge, or sidewalk is no longer insufficient, as defined by RSA 231:90, II.

and were grossly negligent or exercised bad faith in responding or failing to respond to such actual knowledge; or

shall be limited as provided in RSA 231 and the liability of any governmental unit with respect to publicly owned airport runways and taxiways shall be limited as set forth in RSA 422.

FISCAL NOTE for an act to protect municipalities against liability in the construction and maintenance of highways, streets and sidewalks.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Departments of Transportation and Insurance both agree that local expenditures would decrease by an undeterminable amount because of fewer liability cases. There is no impact upon local revenues or state or county revenues or expenditures.

v

SB 01`6\\capitol\viewlibrary\prior session bills\1991\senate\wt44t@t ${

A\\capitol\viewlibrary\prior session bills\1991\senate\SB 0151.doc

{tan Kelly ¬8{
w{v)
)
HnndocovervØ{Øv\SB 0151.docNETWORK VIEW LIBRARY\PRIOR SESSION BILLS\fooA,{`6\\capitol\viewlibrary\prior session bills\1991\senate\
SB 0151.doc
SB 0151.doc{òòC:\TEMP\~DFF12A.tmp`6\\capitol\viewlibrary\prior session bills\1991\senate\
SB 0151.doc& _ IÁé\\capitol\viewlibrary\prior session bills\19 ¯ÿ?A\\capitol\viewlibrary\prisenate\SB 0151.dSÿ__{R{"} ¯ÿ?}{@Sÿ_SS_Sµfilesave_{{ SSS(Ìd{p4Ú{$0/00À0" SÚ0GGÚÚÚ_¸_\Registry\Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentV????F????