GEORGE GARCIA, ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY, AND DADE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1990-02-20
No. 89-1402
Before HUBBART, BASKIN and GODERICH, JJ.
561 So. 2d 1194 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1990) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

A child was struck by a car while crossing the street without his mother's permission. The parents sued the county and school board for failing to maintain a crosswalk and provide adequate warnings, but the appellate court affirmed summary judgment for the defendants, holding that the child's own act of crossing without permission was the sole proximate cause of the injury, not any alleged dangerous condition.


Holding

The court held that the defendants were not liable because the sole proximate cause of the child's injuries was his own act of stepping into the street without keeping proper lookout while under his mother's supervision, not any alleged dangerous condition or failure to warn by the defendants.


Headnotes

[1] A parent's direct supervision and control of a child immediately before an accident can be the sole proximate cause of the child's injuries, superseding any alleged dange…

[2] The presence or absence of traffic control devices or warnings is not a proximate cause of an accident when a child acts without parental permission and stops in the midd…

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Key Quotes

“No number of traffic signals, traffic control devices, or safe route to school maps can provide any greater protection for a child than the attendant supervision of his parent.”

Establishes that parental supervision is the primary duty and protection for children, not government traffic devices.

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Facts & Procedural History

George Garcia, Jr. was struck by an automobile while walking to school with his mother, Josefina Nazario, and sister. On the day of the accident, Geor…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

We affirm the final summary judgments in favor of Metropolitan Dade County and Dade County School Board.

George Garcia, Jr. was struck and injured by an automobile while walking to school with his mother, Josefina Nazario, and sister. On the day of the accident, George began to cross N.W. 32 Street without his mother's permission and then stopped in the middle of the street. Josefina Nazario did not attempt' to hold her son’s hand before the accident occurred. Instead she remained on the sidewalk as George walked into the street.

George’s parents filed suit for damages on their and George’s behalf against Metropolitan Dade County (“Dade County”) and the Dade County School Board (“School Board”), alleging that Dade County had created a dangerous condition by having failed to maintain a crosswalk at the intersection where the accident occurred, and that the School Board had invited and encouraged students and their parents to cross N.W. 32 street, designating that route as safe, but knowing and failing to warn that the route was not in a designated school zone, knowing of prior accidents, and knowing of and failing to act upon complaints.

Dade County and the School Board moved for summary judgment claiming lack of proximate cause, lack of statutory notice and sovereign immunity. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of both defendants and plaintiffs appealed.

It is clear from Josefina Nazario’s deposition that her son was under her direct control and supervision immediately before the occurrence of the accident. No number of traffic signals, traffic control devices, or safe route to school maps can provide any greater protection for a child than the attendant supervision of his parent. In this case, George walked into the street without his mother’s permission and stopped, whereupon he was struck by the automobile. The presence or absence of traffic control devices or warnings had no relationship to the occurrence of the accident. Further, Josefina Nazario did not see the automobile before the accident. There was, therefore, no evidence to support the claim that additional traffic control devices or warnings would have brought about a different result. There was no evidence that the driver of the automobile disobeyed the existing traffic control devices, was speeding or was driving in an unsafe manner. All that is known from the record below is that a boy disregarded his mother’s instructions and stepped into the street into the path of an oncoming automobile.

The sole proximate cause of George’s injuries was his act of stepping into the street without keeping a proper lookout, while under his mother’s control. “The law is well settled in-this state that a remote condition or conduct which furnishes only the occasion for someone else’s supervening negligence is not a proximate cause of the result of the subsequent negligence.” Pope v. Cruise Boat, Inc., 380 So. 2d 1151, 1153 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980) (quoting Matthews v. Williford, 318 So. 2d 480, 481 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975)). Thus, there was no genuine issue of material fact to be tried and Dade County and the School Board were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Finding our decision on this issue disposi-tive of our resolution of the case, we decline to address the other issues raised on appeal.

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Van Deese v. McKINNONVILLE Hunting Club, Inc., 874 So. 2d 1282 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004)
    …at there was no negligence on appellee’s part and that its actions were not the proximate legal cause of the accident resulting in the decedent’s death. The court granted appellee’s summary judgment motion, citing Garcia v. Metropolitan Dade County, 561 So. 2d 1194 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), and entered a Summary Final Judgment, adjudging that appellant take nothing by the action. This appeal followed. A party seeking summary judgment in a negligence action has a more onerous burden than that borne in other types of…
  • Huguette Orlando v. Broward Cnty., 920 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
    …ch. Bd. of Escambia County, 395 So. 2d 584 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981) (stating local government and the Department of Transportation have a statutory duty of installing and maintaining school traffic control devices); see also Garcia v. Metro. Dade County, 561 So. 2d 1194 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990). We have considered the mother’s remaining point on appeal, concerning the School Board’s Empty Seat Policy, and find it to be without merit. Under section 234.01, Florida Statutes (1999), the School Board did not have a statutor…
  • Perez v. City OF Homestead & Metro. Dade Cnty., 584 So. 2d 1072 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)
    …PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Payne v. Broward County, 461 So. 2d 63, 66 (Fla.1984); Garcia v. Metropolitan Dade County, 561 So. 2d 1194 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990); Paneque v. Metropolitan Dade County, 478 So. 2d 414, 415 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985).…

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