George A. Martin v. Kansas City

In this action for personal injuries instituted by plaintiff George A. Martin against defendant City of Kansas City, plaintiff
had verdict and judgment for $30,000. Defendant City has appealed. March 6, 1952, plaintiff, a driver of a van-type truck, having approached from the south, brought his vehicle to a stop just
north of a driveway on the west side of Kansas Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets in Kansas City, Missouri. He was intending
to make a "pick-up" at a business house on the west side of the street. In getting out of the truck, plaintiff stepped backward
and fell into a hole in the parkway between the sidewalk and the curb and was injured. The hole or excavation was approximately
five feet long, thirty inches wide and fourteen inches deep. Plaintiff introduced evidence tending to show that the excavation
was filled with snow. The excavation had been made by defendant City's employees December 17, 1951. When plaintiff fell and
was injured there was no warning sign or barricade at or near the excavation.