2025 -- H 5914 | |
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LC001959 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ACTIONS BY AND AGAINST TOWNS | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Felix, Kazarian, Morales, Fogarty, Alzate, Tanzi, and | |
Date Introduced: February 28, 2025 | |
Referred To: House Judiciary | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Sections 45-15-11 and 45-15-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-15 |
2 | entitled "Actions by and Against Towns" are hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 45-15-11. Effect of mending of highway by town. |
4 | No work done by any city or town, upon any way or street, in mending or repairing the |
5 | way or street, shall constitute or be any evidence of an acceptance of the way or street by the city |
6 | or town, nor shall it in any way change the status of the way or street; and the mending or repairing |
7 | of the way or street, and any subsequent remedial measures taken that would have made an earlier |
8 | injury or harm less likely to occur, shall in no way render the city or town liable to pay |
9 | compensation or damages by reason of injuries suffered by any person or persons traveling upon |
10 | the way or street, and evidence of the subsequent measures shall not be admissible to prove |
11 | negligence, culpable conduct, a defect in the product or design, or a need for a warning or |
12 | instruction. |
13 | 45-15-12. Maximum recovery for personal injuries. |
14 | (a) No Notwithstanding §§ 9-31-2 and 9-31-3, no person shall recover from any town in |
15 | any action mentioned in §§ 45-15-8 and 45-15-9, a greater sum for personal injuries than one |
16 | hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) three thousand dollars ($3,000). |
17 | (b) This section shall be given retroactive effect and apply to all causes of action arising on |
18 | or after May 4, 1984 January 1, 2025. |
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1 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ACTIONS BY AND AGAINST TOWNS | |
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1 | This act would limit the recovery for personal injuries actions against any town to three |
2 | thousand dollars ($3,000) retroactive to all causes of action arising after January 1, 2025, and would |
3 | prohibit the use of subsequent remedial measures in roadway/highway defect cases. |
4 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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