Is a Florida City Liable for a Car Accident Caused by Lack of Signage?
All Florida drivers have a legal duty to drive safely. This includes obeying any roadway signage, such as stop or yield signs. Of course, this assumes that state and local authorities have actually installed the appropriate signage.
Hialeah Gardens Faces Civil Lawsuit
So what if a car accident results from a lack of signage that should have been there but was not? The Florida Third District Court of Appeals recently addressed such a case. In City of Hialeah Gardens v. Castellanos, the plaintiffs suffered serious injuries in a head-on collision with another vehicle. The plaintiffs subsequently filed a personal injury lawsuit in state court against the owner and driver of the other vehicle. They also named the City of Hialeah Gardens, where the accident took place, as a co-defendant.
According to the plaintiffs’ complaint, the City allegedly “failed to install or implement roadway signage such as, but not limited to, solid double line lane road strips indicating a no passing zone, or roadway signs warning drivers not to pass into the opposing lane.” This failure, the plaintiffs maintain, contributed to the head-on collision. More to the point, the City was supposed to have installed such signage, as it was “previously designed to be installed or implemented by government authority officials.”
The City, however, asked the Circuit Court to dismiss the case against it citing “sovereign immunity.” The judge denied the motion, which then prompted the City’s appeal. The Third District, however, agreed with the trial court and held that the plaintiffs’ case against the City could proceed to trial.
Planning vs. Operational Functions
So why did the City of Hialeah Gardens think it was entitled to immunity in this case? As a general rule, a person cannot sue the State of Florida or any of its political subdivisions, including cities, unless the state legislature adopts legislation waiving the government’s sovereign immunity from civil lawsuits. Such a waiver exists for personal injury claims arising from the negligence of a city or its employees.
But as the Third District explained in this case, sovereign immunity still covers “planning-level functions” of a city government. That is, you cannot sue a city based on its “decision to build the road or its design of the road,” as that is still a protected sovereign function. It is possible, however, to sue a city for an “operational-level” function, i.e., decisions that carry out or implement policy.
Here, the plaintiffs’ lawsuit is based on the City’s alleged failure to carry out an operational-level function–install traffic signs that was part of the original design for the road–so the City cannot hide behind sovereign immunity.
Contact a Pasco County Car Accident Attorney
Following any auto accident it is important to consider all parties whose negligence may be contributing factors. Our Pasco County car accident lawyer can assist you in conducting a full and proper investigation into your own crash. Call Wendy Doyle-Palumbo, Esq., today at (727) 233-2134 to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in Hudson, New Port Richie, and Pasco County.
Source:
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3985109307430991394