Negligence

If an accident resulted from the dangerous state of repair of a stretch of road rather than a particular spot on the road, then, applying established principles, it was material to consider whether the condition of the relevant stretch of road and not just at one spot had been dangerous and whether the dangerous condition had been created by the failure to maintain or repair the highway. The statutory test to be applied in deciding whether the authority had made out a defence under s 58 of the Highways Act 1980 was one of reasonableness not practicality. The burden was on the authority to establish that they took such care as in all the circumstances had been reasonably required to secure that the part of the highway to which the action related was not dangerous to traffic.