STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, AND PALM BEACH COUNTY, ETC., APPELLANTS,
v.
LORETTA KONNEY, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF DOUGLAS M. KONNEY, DECEASED, R. EDWARD CAMPBELL, ADMINISTRATOR AD LITEM FOR THE ESTATE OF DOUGLAS M. KONNEY, DECEASED, DOUGLAS D. FUNK, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF GEORGE ROBERT FUNK, DECEASED, APPELLEES
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Florida's Department of Transportation and Palm Beach County appealed a trial court decision allowing evidence of a missing traffic control device in a wrongful death case. The court affirmed, holding that while the decision to install traffic control devices is protected by sovereign immunity as a discretionary planning decision, a governmental entity has a duty to warn of known dangerous conditions not readily apparent, including the duty to adequately warn through appropriate means like flashing beacons.
While a governmental entity's decision to install a traffic control device is a discretionary planning-level decision protected by sovereign immunity, if the entity creates or maintains a known dangerous condition not readily apparent to the public, it has a concomitant duty to adequately warn of that danger. Evidence of the failure to install a flashing beacon was properly admitted because it related to the duty to warn, not to protected planning decisions.
[1] The decision to install a traffic control device is a discretionary planning level decision protected from tort liability by sovereign immunity.
[2] A governmental entity must warn the public of a known dangerous condition it creates that is not readily apparent.
Previewing 2 of 6 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“whether or not a governmental entity installs a traffic control device is a discretionary planning level decision protected from suit for tort liability by the doctrine of sovereign immunity”
Establishes the general protection for the decision to install traffic control devices under sovereign immunity, citing Department of Transportation v. Neilson.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTwo roads intersected to form two acute angles and two obtuse angles, creating a dangerous visibility condition. A fatal accident occurred at this int…
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GARRETT, Judge.
We grant the motion for rehearing filed by appellant State of Florida, Department of Transportation, and substitute the following opinion:
AFFIRMED. We address one of the issues raised by appellants, Department of Transportation and Palm Beach County. It is their contention that the decision to install a traffic control device is protected from suit by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. They argue error occurred when the trial judge admitted evidence of the lack of a traffic control device at the accident intersection where the roads intersected to form two acute angles and two obtuse angles. Appellee alleged inadequate warning of the dangerous visibility condition created by the layout of the two roads.
We find no error as to the remaining issues.
In Department of Transportation v. Neilson, 419 So. 2d 1071 (Fla.1982), the court recognized that whether or not a governmental entity installs a traffic control device is a discretionary planning level decision protected from suit for tort liability by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. However,, on the same day, the court held in City of St. Petersburg v. Collom, 419 So. 2d 1082, 1085 (Fla.1982), that if a governmental entity creates a known dangerous condition, not readily apparent, then the governmental entity must take steps to warn the public of the danger. In Payne v. Broward County, 461 So. 2d 63 (Fla.1984), the court established that a governmental entity’s decision concerning the installation of a traffic control device includes a concomitant duty to warn if the absence of a traffic control device creates a trap or known danger not readily apparent to persons in or about the intersection. In Bailey Drainage District v. Stark, 526 So. 2d 678 (Fla.1988), the court held that knowingly maintaining an intersection with a trap or hidden danger caused by obstructions to visibility subjects a governmental entity to the duty to warn of the danger. Inherent in the duty to warn is the duty to adequately warn. The trial judge properly admitted evidence showing a flashing beacon should have been installed at the intersection to warn drivers in a manner more consistent with the safety of the traveling public. Her ruling did not entangle the court in fundamental questions of public policy or planning which remain protected by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. See Kaisner v. Kolb, 543 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 1989).
POLEN, J., concurs.
DOWNEY, J., concurs as to conclusion only/without opinion.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Kaisner v. Kolb, 543 So. 2d 732 (Fla. 1989)
- Dep't OF Transp. v. Neilson, 419 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 1982)
- City OF ST. Petersburg v. Collom, 419 So. 2d 1082 (Fla. 1982)
- Payne v. Broward Cnty., 461 So. 2d 63 (Fla. 1984)
- Bailey Drainage Dist. v. Stark, 526 So. 2d 678 (Fla. 1988)