STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION; MIREYA LOPEZ AND ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
ORLANDO VEGA, A MINOR, MERCEDES VEGA, A MINOR, AND CONSUELO VEGA, A MINOR, BY AND THROUGH THEIR NATURAL PARENTS AND NEXT FRIENDS, PILAR VEGA AND ORLANDO VEGA, AND PILAR VEGA AND ORLANDO VEGA, INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLEES
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The Florida Court of Appeal reversed a judgment against the Department of Transportation based on sovereign immunity, holding that the decision not to install a guardrail on an expressway is a protected planning-level decision. The court also reversed a cost judgment that improperly made a private defendant liable for costs attributable to the immune government defendant, while affirming the judgment against the private defendant.
DOT is immune from liability because the decision whether to erect a guardrail is a planning-level decision protected by sovereign immunity. The cost judgment against Mrs. Lopez is reversed and remanded because she cannot be held liable for costs attributable to the successful immune defendant.
[1] The decision by a Department of Transportation to not erect a guardrail on an expressway constitutes a planning level decision protected by sovereign immunity.
[2] A cost judgment against a defendant may not include costs attributable to a codefendant who successfully defended against the plaintiff's claims.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The Department's decision as to whether to erect a guardrail as a barrier on the expressway was a planning level decision as that term is defined in Commercial Carrier Corporation v. Indian River County, 371 So. 2d 1010 (Fla.1979).”
Establishes that DOT's decision not to install a guardrail is a planning-level decision protected by sovereign immunity.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMireya Lopez's vehicle went out of control on an expressway, jumped the curb, and crashed down an embankment into the Vegas' back porch, pinning Mrs. …
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NESBITT, Judge.
A vehicle operated by Mireya Lopez went out of control on an expressway, jumped the curb which formed the perimeter of the roadway and went down an embankment into plaintiffs Vegas’ back porch, pinning Mrs. Vega under the wreckage. Mrs. Vega, joined by her husband for his derivative claim, brought a personal injury action against the Department of Transportation (DOT), for failure to install a guardrail; and Mrs. Lopez, for negligent operation of her vehicle. The jury returned a joint and several verdict against the defendants in favor of Mrs. Vega for $240,000 and in favor of Mr. Vega for $10,000. DOT appeals the final judgment on the basis of sovereign immunity. Mrs. Lopez appeals the cost judgment entered against her. Mr. Vega cross-appeals the judgment in his favor as inadequate.
DOT correctly contends that it was immune from liability for the injuries to the Vegas. The Department’s decision as to whether to erect a guardrail as a barrier on the expressway was a planning level decision as that term is defined in Commercial Carrier Corporation v. Indian River County, 371 So. 2d 1010 (Fla.1979). The plans and designs for the expressway did not include the installation of a guardrail to either insulate or act as a barrier between the highway and the adjacent property. We have recognized that the placement or nonplacement of traffic control signals and pedestrian control signals is a discretionary planning level function unless mandated by a particular statute.
A. L. Lewis Elementary School v. Metropolitan Dade County, 376 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). More recently, the Fourth District, in Payne v. Palm Beach County, 395 So. 2d 1267, 1268 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), held that “[wjhether to extend a road or build a guard rail are classic examples of the type of planning level policy decisions which remain in the protected sphere of sovereign immunity.” Consequently, since DOT enjoyed sovereign immunity in its decision not to erect a guardrail, we reverse the final judgment entered against it in favor of both Mr. and Mrs. Vega.
As to Mrs. Lopez’ claim that the cost judgment has made her jointly and severally liable for all costs including those resulting from the plaintiff’s claim against the Department of Transportation, we reverse. Because we have determined that there is no liability against DOT, the cost judgment against the Department must also be reversed. See Goldstein v. Acme Concrete Corporation, 103 So. 2d 202, 205 (Fla.1958). In Food Fair Properties, Inc. v. Snellgrove, 292 So. 2d 66 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974), we recognized the injustice of allowing a plaintiff to obtain a cost judgment against the single losing defendant where those costs included prosecution of a successful joint defendant.
Accordingly, Mrs. Lopez may not be taxed for the costs attributable to the successful defendant, DOT. See Food Fair Properties, Inc. v. Snellgrove, supra. For this reason, the cost judgment, now extant only with respect to Mrs. Lopez, is reversed and remanded for deletion of those costs attributable solely to the Department of Transportation.
As to Mr. Vega’s cross-appeal, which claimed that the judgment in his favor (now remaining only against Mrs. Lopez) was inadequate because it totalled less than one-fourth of the medical expenses incurred as a result of his wife’s injuries, we affirm. While it is true that the jury was instructed that the husband was entitled to medical expenses incurred on behalf of his wife, it is equally true that both Mr. and Mrs. Vega introduced medical expenses and separately and individually claimed the right to recover for those expenditures. As a result, we must assume that the jury awarded these expenses to the wife as part of the $240,000 judgment entered on her behalf.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgments in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Vega against the Department of Transportation are reversed. The cost judgment against Mrs. Lopez is reversed and remanded with directions. In all other respects, the judgments appealed from are affirmed.
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Harrison v. Escambia Cnty. Sch. Bd., 419 So. 2d 640 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)…d 1028, 1029 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981): Perez v. State Dept. of Transp., 414 So. 2d 544 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Ralph v. City of Daytona Beach, 412 So. 2d 875 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). It should be noted that the Third District, in State Dept. of Transp. v. Vega, 414 So. 2d 559 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1982), has reaffirmed its view, stated in A. L. Lewis Elementary School v. Metropolitan Dade County, supra, that the placement or nonplacement of traffic control signals is a discretionary planning level function. Caveat: Of course, ou…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Commercial Carrier Corp. v. Indian River Cnty., 371 So. 2d 1010 (Fla. 1979)
- Goldstein v. Acme Concrete Corp., 103 So. 2d 202 (Fla. 1958)
- A. L. Lewis Elementary Sch. & the Bd. of Pub. Instruction v. Metro. Dade Cnty., 376 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)
- Payne v. Palm Beach Cnty., 395 So. 2d 1267 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)
- Food Fair Props., Inc. v. Leonora Snellgrove and John Snellgrove, 292 So. 2d 66 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)