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Zittrain Torts Playlist Spring 2013

Platz v. The City Of Cohoes

Should courts consider the objective of the statute when negligence per se is invoked? Plaintiff was riding with her husband in a carriage on Sunday. City workers left a pile of dirt on the street, directly in the way of traffic. The plaintiff’s carriage was overturned when it encountered the pile. Plaintiff sued for her injuries on a theory of negligence. The city asserted that the plaintiff’s violation of a a “Sunday law”—which prohibited riding on the streets in observance of Sunday—barred her from recovery.