FLORIDA COUNTY'S REMOVAL OF BARRIERS CONFUSED BOY KILLED IN INTERSECTION

A Florida Court of Appeal reversed a Circuit Court's summary judgment and ordered a new trial for Metropolitan Dade County over the death of a young bicyclist in an intersection. The 12-year-old boy was killed while riding his bicycle in a westerly direction into an intersection in which the two lanes which carried southbound traffic were closed. He was struck by a car traveling south in one of two lanes designed for northbound traffic, but carrying cars in both directions at the time of the accident. The court agreed with the county that the misplacement or absence of signs warning of the clearly visible intersection did not afford a basis of liability for the boy's death. However, the court of appeal found that the removal of barricades from the two lanes under normal circumstances used for southbound traffic may have deceived the boy into believing that all four lanes of the intersecting avenue were open to traffic. The court of appeal ruled that a new trial should address the alleged negligence of removing barriers which might have saved the boy's life by warning him of the nature of the closure in the southbound lanes. (Hiss v. Metropolitan Dade County 87-465 (515 So.2d 322 Fla. App. 3 Dist. 1987))

• Availability:
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• Corporate Authors:

  TranSafety, Incorporated

  8136 Old Keene Mill Road, Suite B-101
  Springfield, VA  United States  22152
• Publication Date: 1989-7

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 2
• Serial:
  • TRANSAFETY REPORTER
  • Volume: 7
  • Issue Number: 7
  • Publisher: TranSafety, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0884-612X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Barricades; Children; County government; Cyclists; Fatalities; Legal responsibility; Negligence; Work zone traffic control
• Uncontrolled Terms: Removal
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00486177
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 31 1989 12:00AM