Tort Liability of Occupiers of Land: Duties Owed to Trespassers

Abstract

The scope of duty in negligence cases is coming increasingly to be measured by the famous formulation: "Whenever one person is placed by circumstances in such a position in regard to another that every one of ordinary sense who did think would at once recognize that if he did not use ordinary care and skill in his own conduct with regard to those circumstances, he would cause danger of injury to the person or property of the other, a duty arises to use ordinary care and skill to avoid such danger." One of the situations in which the application of this test has been conventionally denied, however, is where plaintiff has voluntarily placed himself within reach of the effects of defendant's failure to take precautions. The chief example of such a situation is the case where plaintiff voluntarily comes upon land occupied by defendant, and is injured there by a dangerous condition of the premises or by some activity of the occupier.