CITY OF MIAMI, APPELLANT,
v.
NADINE MARIA BURLEY, APPELLEE
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The City of Miami appealed a negligence judgment from a motor vehicle accident, arguing the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on traffic statutes that would have made the plaintiff contributorily negligent. The court affirmed, holding that the relevant statute applies only to completely inoperative traffic lights, not malfunctioning ones.
The court held that Section 316.1235, Florida Statutes applies only to traffic lights that are 'inoperative' (completely non-functioning), not merely malfunctioning (functioning abnormally or imperfectly). The trial court correctly rejected the jury instruction because the light was malfunctioning, not inoperative, and therefore the statute did not apply.
[1] A traffic light that is malfunctioning is not considered "inoperative" under Florida Statutes Section 316.1235.
[2] Florida Statutes Section 316.1235 applies only to traffic lights that are not operating at all.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“Section 316.1235, Florida Statutes (1989), is applicable only to an intersectional traffic light which is "inoperative," that is, a traffic light which is not operating at all”
Establishes the narrow scope of the statute at issue
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceNadine Maria Burley's vehicle collided with a City of Miami vehicle at an intersection. The City claimed Burley violated Florida traffic statutes by d…
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PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal by the defendant City of Miami from a final judgment entered upon an adverse jury verdict in a negligence action arising out of an intersectional motor vehicle accident. The City of Miami contends that the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to instruct the jury, upon the City’s request, as to Sections 316.1235, 316.123(2), Florida Statutes (1989).
The City of Miami argues that the plaintiff Nadine Maria Burley violated these traffic statutes by driving through the intersection in question without stopping when the traffic light controlling her lane of traffic showed a steady green and yellow light, and, consequently, the plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence when she collided with an oncoming City of Miami vehicle which turned left in front of her.
We reject this argument and affirm based on a holding that (1) Section 316.-1235, Florida Statutes (1989), is applicable only to an intersectional traffic light which is “inoperative,” that is, a traffic light which is not operating at all, and (2) the traffic light in the instant case was malfunctioning, but, contrary to the City of Miami’s argument, was not “inoperative” within the meaning of Section 316.1235, Florida Statutes (1989), as, in our view, the terms “inoperative” and “malfunctioning” are not synonymous. See The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 678, 790 (William Morris ed., 1973) (inoperative: “not functioning”; malfunction: “to function abnormally, perform imperfectly”; neither is listed as a synonym of the other).
The trial court therefore correctly rejected the City’s proposed jury instruction, and the final judgment under review is, in all respects,
Affirmed.