Case Name: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Larry LEE, Appellee; STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Illanos G. JULIO, Appellee
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1978-02-23
Citations: 356 So. 2d 276
Docket Number: Nos. 52076 and 52190
Parties: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Larry LEE, Appellee. STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Illanos G. JULIO, Appellee.
Judges: OVERTON, C. J, ADKINS and BOYD, JJ., and MASON, Circuit Judge (Retired), concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 356
Pages: 276–289

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Larry LEE, Appellee. STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Illanos G. JULIO, Appellee.
Nos. 52076 and 52190.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Feb. 23, 1978.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen. and Joseph W. Lawrence, II, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellant.
Jack 0. Johnson, Public Defender and James A. Cornelius, Asst. Public Defender, Bartow, for Larry Lee.
Catherine L. Dickson and Ed L. Harvey, Asst. Public Defenders, Tallahassee, for lí-tenos G. Julio.
Robert Berner Lester, III, Tallahassee, for Bill Gunter, Insurance Commissioner and Treasurer, amicus curiae.
Marion R. Shepard and Vincent J. Rio, III of Mathews, Osborne, Ehrlich, McNatt, Go-belman & Cobb, Jacksonville, for John E. Mathews, Jr., amicus curiae.
D. Stephen Kahn and Paul W. Lambert, Tallahassee, for Legislators Brantley, Barron, Forbes, Gallen, Glisson, MacKay, McClain, Poston, J. Thomas, P. Thomas, Ware and Zinkil, amici curiae.
Paul B. Steinberg and Bruce M. Singer of Steinberg & Sorota, Miami Beach, for Insurance Underwriters Unlimited, Inc., a Florida Corporation, amicus curiae.
Louis de la Parte, Jr., Tampa, for AAA Motor Clubs of Florida, amici curiae.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
We have for review consolidated appeals from orders of the county courts of Polk and Gadsden Counties, holding Section 42 of the Florida Insurance and Tort Reform Act of 1977, Chapter 77-468, Laws of Florida, unconstitutional. On September 7, 1977, we rendered a decision in this cause affirming the judgments of the trial courts and holding Section 42 unconstitutional. We retained jurisdiction to fully articulate the reasons for its unconstitutionality and invited the parties and amicus curiae to submit briefs on the question of whether the unconstitutionality of Section 42 required a holding that the entire Act was unconstitutional.
We now hold that Section 42 is unconstitutional on the grounds that (i) it improperly uses the police power to take private property from one group of individuals solely for the benefit of another limited class of individuals; and (ii) it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States and Florida Constitutions in that it constitutes an irrational classification. We reject the contention that the entire Act is unconstitutional because it violates Article III, Section 6, of the Constitution which mandates that a tew must embrace one subject matter. We further find that Section 42 is properly severable from the other provisions of the Act.
We first must articulate the reasoning behind our holding Section 42 unconstitutional. Section 42 provides for the establishment of a "Good Drivers' Incentive Fund" with the stated legislative purposes of encouraging safe driving and discouraging the abuse of driving privileges. Under this section, additional civil penalties are assessed for certain traffic violations. These additional penalties are collected by county clerks and remitted to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for deposit into the fund. The fund then operates in the following manner:
Section 42. Good Drivers' Incentive Fund.—
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(5) Beginning July 1, 1978,. and at the beginning of each fiscal year thereafter, all money in the fund after deduction of the costs of administration of the fund shall be distributed to persons who have:
(a) Been licensed to drive in Florida;
(b) Received no convictions as specified in subsection (4) or convictions arising out of a motor vehicle accident during the preceding 12 months; and
(c) 1. Purchased and maintained continuously for 12 months on a voluntary basis bodily injury liability insurance of at least $10,000 because of bodily injury to, or death of, one person in any one accident, and, subject to said limits for one person, in the amount of $20,000 because of bodily injury, or death of, two or more persons in any one accident; or
2. Established voluntarily with the department financial responsibility by one of the alternative methods set forth in s. 324.031(2), (3), or (4). [The three alternative methods are (1) posting a surety bond with the Department of Insurance; (2)furnishing a certificate from the Department of Insurance showing a cash deposit of $25,000, or a deposit of securities of like market value; or (3) furnishing a certificate of self insurance issued by the Department of Insurance.] Chapter 77-468, Section 42(5), Laws of Florida.
Unquestionably, the legislature, through the exercise of the state's police powers, has the right to establish fines or penalties to be paid by those individuals who violate the state's traffic laws. The state's police powers, however, are not absolute and any legislation resting on the police power, to be valid, must serve the public welfare as distinguished from the welfare of a particular group or class. United Gas Pipe Line Co. v. Bevis, 336 So.2d 560 (Fla.1976); Liquor Store, Inc. v. Continental Distilling Corporation, 40 So.2d 371 (Fla.1949).
Appellant contends that Section 42 serves the public welfare by providing an incentive for those persons operating motor vehicles in this state to utilize the privilege in a safe and financially responsible manner, and, at the same time, by providing a disincentive to those who would abuse such privilege. Appellant argues that this public purpose protects Section 42 from a successful constitutional attack. We disagree.
Our analysis of Section 42 reflects that, no matter how beneficial the public purpose behind its enactment, the distribution of a portion of the fines to a limited group of private persons makes it an improper use of the police power of the state. Section 42 has potential benefit for only a very limited class of private individuals. The class of persons who are entitled to receive a distribution from the fund does not even include all "good" drivers within the state, but includes only those operators of motor vehicles who meet the restrictive qualifications of Section 42(5).
We recognize that legislation is not always invalid because it benefits a limited group. We further recognize that the state does have the power to levy fines against those who violate the state's traffic laws to the extent necessary to protect the public welfare. Section 42, however, does not fall within the category of valid legislation benefiting a limited group, and it is not saved by any public purpose which may have prompted its enactment. The state's police power cannot be invoked to distribute collected funds arbitrarily and discriminatorily to a special limited class of private individuals. For the reasons expressed, Section 42 is in itself unconstitutional.
Somewhat akin to the foregoing impediment in the law is its deficiency under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitutions of Florida and the United States. The classic criterion for assessing the validity of a statutory classification is whether that classification rests upon some ground of difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation, so that all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike. See Ohio Oil Co. v. Conway, 281 U.S. 146, 50 S.Ct. 310, 74 L.Ed. 775 (1929). Stated another way "in order for a statutory classification not to deny equal protection, it must rest on some difference that bears a just and reasonable relation to the statute in respect to which the classification is proposed." Gammon v. Cobb, 335 So.2d 261, 264 (Fla.1976). Ac cord, Rollins v. State, 354 So.2d 61 (Fla.1978). The question, then, is whether the classification made by the legislature in Section 42 is reasonable. We conclude that it is not.
The purpose of the legislature in enacting Section 42 is easily determined for it is stated concisely within the body of the law. Its purpose is to provide "an incentive for those persons operating motor vehicles in this state to utilize the privilege of operating such motor vehicles in a safe and financially responsible fashion and at the same time to provide a disincentive to those who would abuse such privilege." To accomplish this purpose, the legislature elected to amend Chapter 316, Florida Statutes, which sets forth the fines and penalties prescribed for violation of the state's traffic code, by increasing the amount of the fines and penalties, and to create a "Good Drivers' Incentive Fund" to reward safe drivers.
An examination of Section 42 will reveal that the legislature has divided the licensed drivers of automobiles in Florida into two classes. One class consists of licensed drivers who have received no convictions for moving traffic violations and who maintain bodily injury liability insurance or an acceptable substitute. These drivers are the "good drivers" and receive benefits from the "Fund." The second class is comprised of licensed drivers who have received as few as one single conviction for a moving traffic violation but who have also maintained bodily injury liability insurance or an acceptable substitute. These drivers are the "bad drivers" and they are prohibited from receiving the benefits to be dispensed from the "Fund." Are those classified as "bad drivers," in fact, unsafe drivers simply because they have violated one of the enumerated sections of Chapter 316, Florida Statutes? If so, then to separate them into a class apart from "good drivers" and to deny them the benefits of the "Good Drivers' Incentive Fund" would reasonably relate to the purpose of Section 42 to encourage the operation of motor vehicles in a safe fashion and to provide a disincentive to those who would abuse their driving privilege. Accordingly, is a single violation by a licensed driver of one of the many sections of the traffic code listed in Section 42 a reasonable basis for showing that such driver has abused his privilege to drive? We think not. Furthermore, virtually all of the traffic violations set out in Section 42 are minor violations which have been decriminalized by the enactment of Chapter 318, Florida Statutes, and many of the violations are not reasonably related to safe driving.
Black's Law Dictionary definition of the verb "abuse" is:
To make excessive or improper use of a thing; to make an extravagant or excessive use, as to abuse one's authority.
This Court has held that to "abuse power" is to use it in an extravagant manner, to employ it contrary to the law of its use, or to use it improperly and to excess. Swenson v. Cahoon, 111 Fla. 788, 152 So. 203 (1933). By definition, it is apparent that a single conviction for a minor traffic violation which has been decriminalized cannot constitute an abuse of the privilege to drive an automobile by an otherwise responsible driver.
More importantly, many of the moving traffic violations catalogued in Section 42, conviction of which prohibits a driver from enjoying the benefits of the "Fund," are in no way related to the driver's efforts to drive his automobile safely. For example:
Section 316.056, Florida Statutes, — "It is unlawful to tear down or deface any detour sign . . ." (Prohibition here is not unsafe driving, but actions of a pedestrian defacing state property.)
Section 316.061, Florida Statutes,— "The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting only in damage to a vehicle or other property which is driven or attended by any person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident . . . and in every event shall remain at the scene of the accident until he has fulfilled the requirements of § 316.062." (Obviously, this violation does not relate to the driver's ability to drive safely, but rather to his responsibilities after an accident has occurred, even when he is absolutely without fault in causing.the accident.)
Section 316.095, Florida Statutes, — "No driver of any vehicle other than an authorized emergency vehicle on official business shall follow any fire apparatus traveling in response to a fire alarm closer than 500 feet or drive into or park such vehicle within the block where fire apparatus has stopped in answer to a fire alarm." (The prohibition here is to prevent the frustration of fire fighting activities, not unsafe driving.)
Section 316.096, Florida Statutes, — "No vehicle shall be driven over any unprotected hose of a fire department when laid down on any street or highway, or private road or driveway, to be used at any fire or alarm of fire, without the consent of the fire department official in command." (This violation also relates to the hindrance of firefighters in their activities rather than safe driving.)
Section 316.102, Florida Statutes, — "It is unlawful to operate upon any hard surfaced road in this state any log cart, tractor, or well machine; any steel tired vehicle other than the ordinary farm wagon or buggy; or any other vehicle or machine that is likely to damage a hard surfaced road except to cause ordinary wear and tear on the same." (Obviously the intent of this section is to prohibit physical damage to highways not to define unsafe driving practices.)
Section 316.104(2), Florida Statutes, — "It is unlawful to allow any vehicle or contrivance or any part of same, or any load or portion of a load carried on the same, to drag upon any street or highway." (Again the intent is to prohibit physical damage to highways.)
Section 316.104(4), Florida Statutes, — "It is unlawful for any vehicle to be equipped with any solid tires or any airless type tire on any motor-driven vehicle when operated upon a highway." (The intent of this section is similar to that of the preceding section.)
The arbitrary classification of drivers based on their conviction of one of the traffic violations set out above or a similar violation bears no reasonable relation to the purpose of Section 42.
Furthermore, under the provisions of Section 42 it is possible for a person to be placed in the "bad driver" class even though he was not driving his automobile at the time of the violation. The provisions of Section 316.206, Florida Statutes, require that an owner of a vehicle who permits his vehicle to be driven in violation of the section is also guilty of violating the section. Thus, a moving traffic violation as defined by Section 42 may be vicariously imputed to a motor vehicle owner who was not physically present at the time or place of the moving violation.
We cannot distinguish the classification imposed by Section 42 from others which have been held by this Court to be unreasonable and discriminatory. For example, in Seaboard Air Line Ry. v. Simon, 56 Fla. 545, 47 So. 1001 (1908), this Court held invalid a statute which imposed the legal duty on the operators of railroads to pay for goods lost or injured in transportation, but exempted all other common carriers from such duty. It was held that a statute making such a regulation applicable only to railroads created an unreasonable classifica tion which denied railroad companies equal protection of the laws. In State v. Blackburn, 104 So.2d 19 (Fla.1958), a statute forbidding the display of signs advertising the price of gasoline by gas station operators within 15 feet of the right-of-way of any public street was held to be constitutionally invalid. It was ruled that dealers in gasoline could not be singled out for regulation while dealers in other products attractive to motorists were not prohibited from so advertising their products. The Court determined that the purpose of the statute was to eliminate the danger to the public of distracting the attention of the driver. Justice Thomas observed that:
The lack of substantial reason to impose the conditions on the one class of retailers specified and on but one type of sign maintained by that class renders the pertinent part of the law invalid. 104 So.2d at 21.
A similar conclusion was reached in Gammon v. Cobb and Rollins v. State, supra. The former decision dealt with an unreasonable classification for illegitimate children and the latter related to operators of billiard parlors. The reasoning iterated in each of the foregoing decisions of this Court is equally applicable to Section 42 and, consequently, the same result must obtain.
The next constitutional issue that must be addressed concerns the contention that the entire Act is unconstitutional on the ground that it violates the constitutional directive that a law "shall embrace but one subject and matter properly connected therewith." Article III, Section 6, Florida Constitution.
Appellee Julio contends that Chapter 77-468 is a statute which contains at least two separate subjects, insurance and tort reform, in addition to other matters which are not properly connected to either subject. Although Chapter 77-468 is a broad and comprehensive legislative enactment, we must disagree with appellees' contentions.
The purpose of the constitutional prohibition against a plurality of subjects in a single legislative act is to prevent a single enactment from becoming a "cloak" for dissimilar legislation having no necessary or appropriate connection with the subject matter. E. g., Colonial Inv. Co. v. Nolan, 100 Fla. 1349, 131 So. 178 (1930). This constitutional provision, however, is not designed to deter or impede legislation by requiring laws to be unnecessarily restrictive in their scope and operation. See State ex rel. X-Cel Stores, Inc. v. Lee, 122 Fla. 685, 166 So. 568 (1936). This Court has consistently held that wide latitude must be accorded the legislature in the enactment of laws, and this Court will strike down a statute only when there is a plain violation of the constitutional requirement that each enactment be limited to a single subject which is briefly expressed in the title. Farabee v. Board of Trustees, 254 So.2d 1 (Fla.1971); Rouleau v. Avrach, 233 So.2d 1 (Fla.1969).
The subject of a law is that which is expressed in the title, Rouleau, supra, at 4; Ex parte Knight, 52 Fla. 144, 41 So. 786 (1906), and it may be as broad as the legislature chooses provided the matters included in the law have a natural and logical connection. Board of Public Instruction of Broward County v. Doran, 224 So.2d 693 (Fla.1969).
Applying the above-stated principles, we conclude that the Act before us deals with only one subject. Chapter 77-468 is an attempt by the legislature to deal comprehensively with tort claims and particularly with the problem of a substantial increase in automobile insurance rates and related insurance problems. Sections 38-41 of Chapter 77-468 concern certain aspects of tort litigation, but these sections relate primarily to tort litigation arising from automobile negligence. Given the profound effect of tort litigation on all phases of the automobile insurance industry, we cannot say that tort law and automobile insurance have no logical connection.
The legislature, in enacting Chapter 77-468, has dealt comprehensively with a broad subject, but we cannot say that appellees have demonstrated a plain violation of Article III, Section 6, of the Constitution. Prior comprehensive enactments by the legislature demonstrate that widely divergent rights and requirements can be included without challenge in statutes covering a single subject matter. For example, the recently enacted Probate Code encompasses a wide range of rights, penalties, and forfeitures in a single legislative enactment. Chapter 75-220, Laws of Florida. With the presumption of validity that Chapter 77-468 carries with it, we must give the legislature the benefit of the doubt.
The appellees make at least seven other constitutional assaults on Section 42. In view of our finding, we need not address those contentions.
The final issue concerns the question of whether Section 42 is properly severable from the remaining portions of Chapter 77-468. In resolving the issue of severability, this Court has consistently applied the tests set forth in Cramp v. Board of Public Instruction of Orange County, 137 So.2d 828 (Fla.1962):
When a part of a statute is declared unconstitutional the remainder of the act will be permitted to stand provided: (1) the unconstitutional provisions can be separated from the remaining valid provisions, (2) the legislative purpose expressed in the valid provisions can be accomplished independently of those which are void, (3) the good and the bad features are not so inseparable in substance that it can be said that the Legislature would have passed the one without the other and, (4) an act complete in itself remains after the invalid provisions are stricken. . . . 137 So.2d at 830.
Chapter 77-468 was designed to accomplish several objects. Section 42 was intended principally to lower the frequency of traffic violations. The remaining sections of the Act relate to reforms in insurance rates and coverage as well as reforms in certain aspects of tort litigation. The legislative purposes behind the enactment of the remaining portions of the Act, although related, can be accomplished independently of Section 42. The remaining sections are not inseparately connected with or contingent on Section 42.
Further, there is no evidence to demonstrate that the legislature would not have passed the other provisions had it known that Section 42 would fall. In fact, the evidence of legislative intent points to the contrary. Section 44 of Chapter 77-468 declares that the legislature intended each section to be severable from the remaining portions of the Act.
We hold that Section 42 is properly severable from the remaining sections of Chapter 77-468. In so doing, however, we express no opinion as to the constitutionality of each of the remaining sections of Chapter 77-468.
The judgments of the trial courts holding that Section 42 is unconstitutional are affirmed. That portion of the judgment of the County Court of Gadsden County which held the entire Chapter 77-468 unconstitutional, however, is reversed. The funds collected pursuant to Section 42 should be refunded to the extent possible without cost to the original payor.
It is so ordered.
OVERTON, C. J, ADKINS and BOYD, JJ., and MASON, Circuit Judge (Retired), concur.
ENGLAND, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with an opinion, with which SUNDBERG, J., concurs.
SUNDBERG, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with an opinion, with which ENGLAND and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
. For the purposes of Section 42, the term "moving traffic violations" means an infraction of the following Florida Statutes:
§ 316.029, 316.030, 316.040, 316.053, 316.-054, 316.055, 316.056, 316.0565, 316.057(9), 316.061, 316.081, 316.082, 316.083, 316.084, 316.085, 316.086, 316.087, 316.088, 316.089, 316.090, 316.091, 316.092, 316.094, 316.095, 316.096, 316.098, 316.100(1), 316.102, 316.-104(2) or (4), 316.107, 316.108, 316.109, 316.-110, 316.1105, 316.113, 316.121, 316.122, 316.-123, 316.125, 316.126(1) or (3), 316.133, 316.-134, 316.138, 316.139, 316.151, 316.152, 316.-153, 316.154, 316.155, 316.157, 316.158, 316.-159, 316.162, 316.181, 316.182, 316.183, 316.-184, 316.185, 316.186, 316.196, 316.197, 316.-198, 316.205, 316.206, 316.217, 316.236, 316.-238, 316.2431, or 339.30(l)(a), (b), (c), (d), (g), or (h).
All of the above sections have been decriminalized by the provisions of Chapter 318, Florida Statutes, except for the following: 316.029, 316.061, 316.028.