Title: Dewar v. City of Miami

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

93 So. 2d 58 (1957)
Petronelia DEWAR and John Dewar, her husband, Appellants,
v.
CITY OF MIAMI, Florida, a municipal corporation, Ayares Finance Corporation, Reliable Motor Company, Inc., and Universal Finance Company, Incorporated, Appellees.

Supreme Court of Florida, En Banc.
February 27, 1957.
Kelner & Lewis, Miami Beach, for appellants.
J.W. Watson, Jr. and Robert M. Haverfield, Miami, for City of Miami; Blackwell, Walker & Gray, Miami, for Ayares Finance Corp., Reliable Motor Co., Inc. and Universal Finance Co. Inc., appellees.
DREW, Justice.
A determination of the existence or nonexistence of contributory negligence in a summary judgment situation provides the focal point for this opinion.
Petronelia Dewar brought a complaint charging the adjacent property owners and the city with negligence in regard to the creation of cracks in a sidewalk, and failure to repair such defects. Mrs. Dewar alleged that she fell while she was walking upon the defective sidewalk. The defendants charged Mrs. Dewar with contributory negligence, which would bar her claim. The trial judge entered summary judgment for the defendants from which Mrs. Dewar appeals:
"Considered, ordered and adjudged, as follows:
*59 Mrs. Dewar's testimony on deposition is the only evidence which we find necessary to support the conclusion of the trial judge. Her testimony concerning her own action when she was faced with the defective sidewalk situation is not controverted. In the discovery deposition of Mrs. Dewar, which was before the trial court and considered in the disposition of the motion for summary judgment, she testified that some distance before she reached the point in the sidewalk where she was injured she saw that the sidewalk was cracked and broken. She testified that she didn't know exactly how far she was from it but that she did see that "the whole area is pretty cracked up." She further testified:
In Chambers v. Southern Wholesale, Inc., Fla., 92 So. 2d 188, 190, we said, speaking through Crosby, Associate Justice,
The record here fails to show any circumstances that would justify Mrs. Dewar's failure to apprehend and avoid the danger. On the contrary, her testimony clearly shows that after seeing the condition of the sidewalk some distance away, she continued on her way and stepped into the crack which resulted in her injury. Under such circumstances she is guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law. Becksted v. Riverside Bank of Miami, Fla. 1956, 85 So. 2d 130; Earley v. Morrison Cafeteria Co., Fla. 1952, 61 So. 2d 477 (summary judgment cases); See also Bowles v. Elkes Pontiac Company, Fla. 1952, 63 So. 2d 769; Pettigrew v. Nite-Cap, Inc., Fla. 1953, 63 So. 2d 492; Breau v. Whitmore, Fla. 1952, 59 So. 2d 748; and Brant v. Van Zandt, Fla. 1955, 77 So. 2d 858.
The foregoing cases are distinguishable from those such as City of Palatka v. Woods, Fla. 1955, 78 So. 2d 562, 563, where the evidence established that the injured party was not aware of the dangerous condition of the sidewalk prior to the time of injury. In City of Palatka v. Woods, supra, we said, in disposing of the question of contributory negligence:
In the instant case, as shown above, the plaintiff was walking on the sidewalk in the daylight and testified that she saw and knew that the sidewalk was defective sometime prior to walking into the defective area. When she continued on her way with full knowledge of said defects she became guilty of contributory negligence as a matter of law.
Affirmed.
TERRELL, C.J., and HOBSON, ROBERTS, THORNAL and O'CONNELL, JJ., concur.