Can a municipality be held liable for failing to maintain its roads properly?

Judicial interpretation of s. 284 and similar statutory provisions has held that the act does not impose on a municipality a duty to repair every adverse road condition. In the winter, for example, a municipality’s failure to salt or sand its roads does not automatically expose it to civil liability. The driving public cannot expect municipalities to keep the roads free and clear of snow and ice at all times during the winter. Courts have recognized that although motorists ought to be kept reasonably safe during winter driving conditions, municipalities ought not to be turned into insurers of the safety of the driving public by imposing overly onerous maintenance obligations. See Brown v. British Columbia, 1994 CanLII 121 (SCC), [1994] 1 S.C.R. 420 at 439.