RHONDA LAVONIA HOOVER AND LESUA WIGGS, AS CO-PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ESTATE OF GRACE HOLLEY KIRKLAND, DECEASED, AND ON BEHALF OF AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF DECEDENT'S ESTATE AND SURVIVORS, AND LESUA WIGGS, DEPENDENT, APPELLANTS,
v.
POLK COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT AND POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA, APPELLEES

Fla. 2d DCA | 1993-01-13
Nos. 92-00382, 92-00894
SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.
611 So. 2d 1331 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1993) Caution
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Appellants sought review of dismissal of a wrongful death negligence action against the Polk County Sheriff's Department and County arising from a fatal collision with an abandoned vehicle left on a roadway. The court reversed the dismissal, holding that plaintiffs adequately alleged causes of action by claiming the defendants knew of the abandoned vehicle, failed to remove it despite policies requiring removal, and this failure contributed to the decedent's death.


Holding

Appellants stated causes of action against both the sheriff and the county. Although the cited statutes do not impose a duty to remove abandoned vehicles, the complaint adequately alleged that the defendants' own policies required removal and that the defendants were aware of the dangerous condition, which is sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.


Headnotes

[1] A governmental entity may be liable for negligence if its own policies create a duty to remove a dangerous condition that it is aware of.

[2] A complaint sufficiently states a cause of action for negligence against a sheriff's department and a county when it alleges awareness of a dangerous obstruction on a roa…

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Key Quotes

“Because the appellants have alleged in their complaint that the sheriff and the county were aware of this vehicle, that it constituted a dangerous obstruction to the deceased's use of the roadway, and that the policies of both the sheriff and the county required removal of the vehicle, we conclude Cook establishes that the appellants have stated causes of action against the sheriff and the county, and we reverse the dismissal of the complaint.”

The court's holding that the complaint stated valid causes of action based on alleged breach of internal policies requiring vehicle removal.

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Facts & Procedural History

Grace Holley Kirkland was traveling north on a state road at night when she collided with an oncoming truck at the location of a burned, abandoned For…

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Opinion of the Court
PARKER, Judge.

PARKER, Judge.

Appellants seek review of the trial court’s order granting motions to dismiss with prejudice the third amended complaint against the Polk County Sheriff’s Department and Polk County. We reverse, concluding that the appellants have stated causes of action against the sheriff and the county.

The common allegations in the complaint before this court are incorporated into four counts: count one, the estate’s negligence claim against the sheriff’s office; count two, Lesua Wiggs' negligence claim against the sheriff’s office; count three, the estate’s negligence claim against the county; and count four, Lesua Wiggs’ negligence claim against the county.

As to the wrongful death actions of the estate and Wiggs, there were the following common allegations. The deceased was traveling north on a state road at night and came upon a burned, abandoned Ford Pinto illegally parked less than two feet from the eastern edge of the roadway. The Pinto’s position and condition prevented the deceased’s unobstructed use of the roadway. A large truck approached from the opposite direction, and at the point of the illegally parked Pinto, the deceased collided with the truck, resulting in her death.

In their complaint, the appellants alleged that the sheriff knew of the abandoned vehicle for at least thirteen days, inspected the vehicle, and failed to remove it from its dangerous position “as required by its own policies and by §§ 705.103 and 316.194, Florida Statutes." The appellants alleged that the county knew that the vehicle was abandoned in a dangerous position. The appellants also alleged that the vehicle's presence constituted a hazardous condition for a sufficient length of time for the county to act and that they failed to remove it “as required by §§ 705.103 and 316.194, Florida Statutes, and as required by its own policies.”

Both the sheriff and the county alleged in their motions to dismiss and before this court that the statutes cited in the appellants’ complaint do not impose a duty upon the sheriff or the county to remove abandoned vehicles and that there is no common law of responsibility to remove abandoned vehicles from the side of the road. We agree; however, in Cook v. Sheriff of Collier County, 573 So. 2d 406, 408 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), which involved duties of a sheriff when an intersection stop sign is missing, this court stated:

We agree with the appellee’s contention that the sheriff is generally not under a common law or statutory duty to report the sign condition, repair it, or warn motorists of it, where, as in this case, he did not have the right to control or possess the intersection, roads, or stop sign and did not create the dangerous condition. Wells v. Stephenson, 561 So. 2d 1215 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Alderman v. Lamar, 493 So. 2d 495 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986), rev. denied, 503 So. 2d 326 (Fla.1987). In Wells, we concluded that because the sheriff had no duty to report or repair the downed stop sign or to warn motorists that it was missing, he could not be found liable for breach of such duty. Mrs. Cook alleged, however, in her second amended complaint that according to the state of Florida and the Collier County 911 Plans and section 365.171, Florida Statutes (1985), the sheriff had a duty to relay the information concerning the sign because this was an established procedure contained in the plans. Although we do not find such a duty in section 365.171, we cannot determine whether the individual plans establish such a duty because they are not in the record and apparently were not reviewed by the trial court. Since Mrs. Cook alleged a duty based upon the plans and we must accept all allegations of the complaint as true, Mrs. Cook stated a cause of action, and we, accordingly, reverse.

Because the appellants have alleged in their complaint that the sheriff and the county were aware of this vehicle, that it constituted a dangerous obstruction to the deceased’s use of the roadway, and that the policies of both the sheriff and the county required removal of the vehicle, we conclude Cook establishes that the appellants have stated causes of action against the sheriff and the county, and we reverse the dismissal of the complaint.

Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Pollock v. Fla. Dep't OF Hwy. Patrol, 882 So. 2d 928 (Fla. 2004)
    …PER CURIAM. We have for review State Department of Highway Patrol v. Pollack, 745 So. 2d 446 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999),1 based upon certified conflict with the decisions in Hoover v. Polk County Sheriff's Department, 611 So. 2d 1331 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993), and Cook v. Sheriff of Collier County, 573 So. 2d 406 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. BACKGROUND AND MATERIAL FACTS The tragic facts of this unfortunate case were summarized by the T…
  • State v. Pollack, 745 So. 2d 446 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)
    …rnal operating procedures is sufficient to impose liability against FHP for its negligence. In support of their argument, ap-pellees rely on Cook v. Sheriff of Collier County, 573 So. 2d 406 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991); Hoover v. Polk County Sheriff’s Dept., 611 So. 2d 1331 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993); and this Court’s decision in Simpson v. City of Miami, 700 So. 2d 87 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). [*449] We agree with the FHP that the state has no sovereign liability as a matter of established law and find the cases relied upon by the…

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