Salas v. PALM BEACH COUNTY BD.

484 So. 2d 1302, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 602
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 5, 1986
Docket85-264
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 484 So. 2d 1302 (Salas v. PALM BEACH COUNTY BD.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Salas v. PALM BEACH COUNTY BD., 484 So. 2d 1302, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 602 (Fla. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

484 So.2d 1302 (1986)

Alma SALAS, and Faustino Salas, Her Husband, Appellants,
v.
PALM BEACH COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, Appellee.

No. 85-264.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

March 5, 1986.

*1303 Ronald V. Alvarez, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellants.

Marlyn J. Altman, Asst. Co. Atty., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

GLICKSTEIN, Judge.

This is an appeal from a directed verdict in favor of the defendant in an action arising out of an automobile collision. We reverse and remand for new trial.

Plaintiffs/appellants, Alma and Faustino Salas, sued the County/appellee, alleging that due to the negligence of a County land survey crew, a traffic accident resulted, injuring the plaintiff wife. At the close of the plaintiffs' evidence, the trial court granted a directed verdict in favor of the defendant County.

On September 12, 1979, a land survey crew from the County was sent out to do a road alignment project at the intersection of Australian Avenue and Belvedere Road. The crew found it necessary to occupy the left hand turn lane of eastbound Belvedere Road, the lane which would normally be used to turn left on to Australian Avenue northbound. Belvedere Road has two additional eastbound lanes. There is some dispute over whether the orange "dunce caps" placed by the survey team blocked off only the left turn lane, or whether the center lane was blocked off as well. It is clear, from a negative view, that the turn lane was inaccessible; and that the green arrow was deactivated. The question is whether the plaintiffs proved that the County should have done more of a positive nature to protect motorists who were operating dangerous instrumentalities in an area of construction and repair and who were being required to make quick, informed, safe decisions.

On the day in question, Marie Blount was travelling east on Belvedere with the intention of making a left turn on to Australian. As she approached the intersection, she saw the crew members in orange vests, and the flagmen waving her away from the turning lane. Although she did not specifically recall whether the center lane was blocked off, she recalled becoming confused and moving into the extreme right lane. Hers was the first car in line stopped at the red light, and she had her left turn blinker on. When the light went green, she saw a hand go up; and although she did not know what that action meant, she proceeded to turn left. She did not see a "no left turn" sign. As she entered the intersection, her car collided with that of Alma Salas, who was travelling west on Belvedere. Mrs. Salas was injured as her car struck the passenger side of the car driven by Blount.

Mrs. Salas and her husband sued the County, alleging that the County, by blocking off the left turn lane, knowingly created a dangerous condition; and that the County had a duty to warn motorists of the condition and to properly supervise traffic to prevent accidents. The complaint further alleged that the County breached this duty by failing to prevent eastbound motorists from turning left into oncoming traffic and by failing to warn westbound motorists of the possibility of traffic turning left into their path.

At the outset of the trial, the trial judge ruled that, based upon his understanding of case law, the relevant standard of conduct for the County employees was established by the Manual on Traffic Control and Safe Practices, adopted by the County prior to the accident in question. Although both parties were in agreement that the Manual set the applicable minimum standards, there was a dispute over what evidence would be admissible to prove the minimum standards set by the Manual. The plaintiffs were prepared to offer an expert to testify as to the minimum standard of care set by the Manual. The County argued a motion in limine, seeking to exclude the expert's testimony, on the basis of City of Jacksonville v. DeRay, 418 So.2d 1035 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). DeRay, the defendant argued, holds that the Manual itself, with its uniform use of mandatory, advisory and permissive language, is the only proper evidence of the minimal standard of care. The court agreed with *1304 the defendant, and granted a motion to strike testimony by plaintiffs' expert relating to the standard of care for the County to the extent that it exceeded the mandatory language of the Manual.

Thereafter, upon the court's request that the parties argue a motion for a directed verdict, the court found that "the plaintiff has not proven any negligence on the part of defendant city [sic] which was a proximate cause of this accident, and I will grant a directed verdict."

I.

Appellants maintain that there was sufficient evidence of negligence on the part of the County to submit to the jury, even assuming the correctness of the court's exclusion of all portions of the expert's testimony that did not relate to the "mandatory" provisions of the Manual. The County on this appeal has put forth two separate bases on which it contends the directed verdict was proper. These arguments, which will be discussed in turn, relate to the standard of care as set forth in the Manual, and to the issue of proximate cause.

A. The Manual

Although the plaintiffs introduced substantial testimony relating to the entire system of flagmen, road markers and directional signs employed by the survey crew to regulate traffic flow through the blocked intersection, the issue of the County's liability is narrowed to the question whether reasonable care was taken to prevent motorists such as Blount from making a left turn at the intersection, either through the use of a "no left turn" sign, or a crew member directing traffic, or some other means.

Appellants argue that the Manual did contain mandatory provisions which the County should have observed in order to prevent the left turn; alternatively, they cite the case of Robinson v. State Department of Transportation, 465 So.2d 1301 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) for the proposition that they had a right to present evidence of the appropriate standard of care, exceeding the mandatory language of the Manual. Since the latter issue goes more to the correctness of the judge's ruling to exclude certain portions of the expert's testimony, discussion will be reserved for Point II on appeal.

Appellants submit that the following Manual provisions are mandatory and establish the County's failure to conform to minimum standards of due care. Section 6A-1 of the Manual entitled "Need for Standards" states:

Problems of traffic-control occur when traffic must be moved through or around highway or street construction, maintenance operations, or utility work. Working on or adjacent to roadways while traffic flows is dangerous to the men who are constantly exposed to a stream of vehicular traffic. It is also dangerous to the motorist who may suddenly be forced into a situation which he did not or could not anticipate.
The relatively high frequency and cost of accidents related to roadway construction, maintenance operations and utility work indicate a need for positive traffic controls in areas where work is being performed. These traffic conditions, which are essentially temporary, are more dangerous and difficult to control because, to the motorist, they are unexpected and not in accordance with the normal patterns of highway traffic [Emphasis added].

Section 6A-3, "Application of Standards," states, in pertinent part:

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Related

Palm Beach County Bd. of Com'rs v. Salas
511 So. 2d 544 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
484 So. 2d 1302, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salas-v-palm-beach-county-bd-fladistctapp-1986.