Case Name: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Petitioner, v. Loretta KONNEY, etc., et al., Respondents; PALM BEACH COUNTY, Petitioner, v. Loretta KONNEY, etc., et al., Respondents
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1991-10-10
Citations: 587 So. 2d 1292
Docket Number: Nos. 75180, 75241
Parties: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Petitioner, v. Loretta KONNEY, etc., et al., Respondents. PALM BEACH COUNTY, Petitioner, v. Loretta KONNEY, etc., et al., Respondents.
Judges: McDONALD and GRIMES, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 587
Pages: 1292–1300

Head Matter:
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Petitioner, v. Loretta KONNEY, etc., et al., Respondents. PALM BEACH COUNTY, Petitioner, v. Loretta KONNEY, etc., et al., Respondents.
Nos. 75180, 75241.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Oct. 10, 1991.
Michael B. Davis, of Davis Hoy Carroll & Isaacs, P.A., West Palm Beach, for petitioner, State of Florida Dept, of Transp.
Christopher D. Mauriello, Asst. County Atty., West Palm Beach, for petitioner, Palm Beach County.
Richard L. Martens and Fletcher N. Baldwin, III of Boose Casey Ciklin Lubitz Martens McBane & O’Connell, West Palm Beach, for respondents.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Franz Eric Dorn, Deputy Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, amicus curiae for The Office of Atty. Gen.
Susan H. Churuti, County Atty., Clear-water, amicus curiae for Pinellas County.
John J. Copelan, Jr., County Atty., Alexander Cocalis, Chief Trial Counsel and Stephanie W. Werner, Asst. County Atty., Fort Lauderdale, amicus curiae for Bro-ward County.
Robert R. Warchola, Asst. County Atty., Tampa, amicus curiae for Hillsborough County.
Charlene V. Edwards, Asst. City Atty., Tampa, amicus curiae for City of Tampa.
V. Lynn Whitfield, West Palm Beach, amicus curiae for City of West Palm Beach.
Phillip C. Gildan of Nason, Gildan, Yeager, Gerson & White, P.A., West Palm Beach, amicus curiae for The Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers.

Opinion:
OVERTON, Justice.
We have for review State, Department of Transportation v. Konney, 551 So.2d 613 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), in which the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that, in a claim against the State of Florida, Department of Transportation (State) and Palm Beach County (County) for damages resulting from an accident at the intersection of a county and a state road, the trial court could properly admit "evidence showing that a 'particular traffic control device should have been installed.' " The district court effectively held that the failure to upgrade the intersection by installing a flashing beacon was a proper claim and not protected by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. We find conflict with Department of Transportation v. Neilson, 419 So.2d 1071 (Fla.1982), and Ingham v. State, Department of Transportation, 419 So.2d 1081 (Fla.1982). For the reasons expressed, we quash the district court's holding and remand for entry of a judgment in favor of petitioners.
On June 23, 1983, Douglas Konney was driving south on State Road 710 (S.R. 710), and George Funk was driving west on County Road 809 (C-809). This suit arose out of an automobile accident which occurred when their vehicles collided at the intersection of S.R. 710, controlled by the Department of Transportation, and C-809, controlled by Palm Beach County. These two roads intersect in a manner that creates two acute angles and two obtuse angles, rather than four right angles.
Traffic on S.R. 710 has the right of way at its intersection with C-809. Southbound traffic on S.R. 710, which is the direction that Konney was traveling, would encounter the following three warning signs before that road intersected with C-809: (1) a side road sign at 1,740 feet; (2) a 45-mile-per-hour sign, reducing speed from 55 miles per hour, at 1560 feet; and (3) at 650 feet, a crossroad sign. Westbound traffic on C-809, which was the direction Funk was traveling, was governed by a stop sign at the main intersection; 488 feet in advance of this stop sign was a "Stop Ahead" warning sign. In addition, the road surface on C-809 was painted with appropriate markings in reflective paint. The speed limit on C-809 was 55 miles an hour.
A Game and Freshwater Fish Commission officer was driving westbound on C-809, directly behind the Funk vehicle. The officer noted that Funk was speeding up and slowing down for no apparent reason. As the Funk vehicle approached the intersection of C-809 and S.R. 710, the officer noted that it was traveling at a speed of 45 to 55 miles per hour. When the officer began to slow down to make a right-hand turn, he observed the Konney vehicle traveling south on S.R. 710. Although there was a stop sign, the Funk vehicle continued straight ahead and entered the intersection without ever applying its brakes. As Kon-ney approached the intersection, he apparently saw the Funk vehicle because he locked his brakes, leaving 35 to 41 feet of skid marks prior to impact with the Funk vehicle. The commission officer called the police and emergency assistance. Konney was killed in the collision; Funk died later in the hospital. The passenger in the Funk vehicle survived.
Konney's estate brought a wrongful death action against the State and the County, alleging that: (1) they were negligent in failing to install a flashing beacon at the intersection; (2) the County should have installed rumble strips on C-809 on the approach to the intersection; and (3) the location and type of signs on each roadway were improper. Konney presented expert testimony that explained the need for a flashing beacon and rumble strips at this intersection. Evidence was also presented that established that from 1973 to 1977 no accidents occurred at this intersection and that from 1978 to 1982 there were twelve accidents. The State presented statistical evidence to show that the number of accidents during 1978 through 1982 was below average for a rural intersection.
Konney emphasized to the jury the State's and County's failure to install a flashing beacon at the intersection and the County's failure to install rumble strips on C-809. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Konney and against each of the defendants, finding the County 60% liable and the State 40% liable. The jury assessed damages at $260,000.
On appeal, the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed. In doing so, the district court noted our decision in City of St. Petersburg v. Collom, 419 So.2d 1082 (Fla.1982), in which we held that
once a governmental entity creates a known dangerous condition which may not be readily apparent to one who could be injured by the condition, and the governmental entity has knowledge of the presence of people likely to be injured, then the governmental entity must take steps to avert the danger or properly warn persons who may be injured by that danger.
Id. at 1086 (emphasis omitted). In its decision, the Fourth District' Court of Appeal applied our Collom decision and concluded: "The trial judge properly admitted evidence showing a flashing beacon should have been installed at the intersection to warn drivers in a manner more consistent with the safety of the traveling public." Konney 551 So.2d at 615.
In a series of cases, we have distinguished between government liability for failure to properly plan, align, and upgrade roads or intersections, including the installation of traffic control devices, and the government's duty to maintain existing facilities and its liability for failure to warn of a known dangerous condition. In the first instance, we have consistently held that decisions concerning the initial plan, road alignment, traffic control device installation, or the improvement of roads and intersections are not matters which would subject a governmental entity to liability, because these activities are basic capital improvements and are judgmental, planning-level functions. Neilson; Ingham; Perez v. Department of Transp., 435 So.2d 830 (Fla.1983).
In Neilson, we held that "decisions relating to the installation of appropriate traffic control methods and devices or the establishment of speed limits are discretionary decisions which implement the entity's police power and are judgmental, planning-level functions." 419 So.2d at 1077. We emphasized that the term "maintenance" is not a term that may be used in this context to indicate the need to upgrade a road by such things as widening or changing the means of traffic control. Id. at 1078. Our decision under those circumstances was necessary to protect the separation-of-powers doctrine. We noted that it was not a judicial function to determine what was suitable road construction or when funds must be spent to upgrade existing roads. Regarding the second situation, we further explained in Neilson and Collom that failure to warn of a known dangerous condition may serve as a basis for an action against a governmental entity because it is a negligent omission at the operational level of government. Id.
The issue in the instant case is whether the installation of a flashing beacon at the intersection of S.R. 710 and C-809 was a planning-level decision required to upgrade the intersection because of increased traffic or a necessary device due to a known dangerous condition at the time this inter section was created, i.e., an operational-level decision. In the first instance, sovereign immunity would prohibit recovery under the principles of Neilson and its progeny, while in the second instance recovery would be allowed under Collom.
Both the State and the County assert that the Fourth District Court of Appeal's decision conflicts with Neilson and Ing-ham. They argue that this action is barred from suit by sovereign immunity because the decision of whether to install a flashing beacon is a planning-level decision as opposed to an operational-level decision. The State and the County contend that there is no causal nexus between the road signs and the accident. They assert that, if the district court's analysis is adopted, then judges and juries will be able to determine the adequacy of traffic control signals at all intersections. The State and the County argue that, no matter how a governmental body builds a road, its actions will always be subject to a judge's or jury's review. Konney, on the other hand, asserts that, since there was no proper warning of a known dangerous condition, the Fourth District Court of Appeal's decision is consistent with our decision in Collom, particularly in view of the fact that the State and County concede that any intersection is an inherently dangerous condition.
We find that Neilson and Ingham control under the circumstances of this case. Although we accept the proposition that every intersection may be inherently dangerous, we reject the conclusion reached by the district court that these circumstances give the judicial branch the authority to determine the type of traffic control devices utilized at intersections. While intersections may be inherently dangerous, the type and extent of traffic control devices vary greatly, from rules that control the right of way to multilane traffic control signals. This Court and the district courts of appeal have established the principle that traffic control methods and the failure to upgrade intersections with traffic control devices are judgmental, planning-level decisions, which are not actionable. Trianon Park Condominium Ass'n v. City of Hialeah, 468 So.2d 912 (Fla.1985); Ingham; Neilson; Commercial Carrier Corp. v. Indian River County, 371 So.2d 1010 (Fla.1979); A.L. Lewis Elementary School v. Metropolitan Dade County, 376 So.2d 32 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979); Ferri v. City of Gainesville, 362 So.2d 345 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). We reaffirmed this principle in Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners v. Salas, 511 So.2d 544 (Fla.1987), where we held that sovereign immunity did not apply under circumstances where a maintenance crew, in the course of maintaining an intersection, had deactivated and blocked a left-turn lane. In that instance, we stated that "[although the county's initial decision of whether to utilize a left turn signal was a planning-level decision, once that decision was made, the county's later decision to deactivate that signal and block off the left turn lane for road maintenance was an operational-level decision." Id. at 546 (emphasis added).
Additionally, Konney asserts that the unusual geometry of the intersection reduced the driver's line of sight and increased the dangerousness of the intersection. Furthermore, Konney argues that the inherent dangerousness arising from the unusual geometry of the intersection, coupled with its rural setting, limited line of sight, absence of artificial illumination, and lack of roadside businesses made this intersection a condition requiring the highest level of warning. We find no merit to this argument.
We find that the geometry of this intersection had nothing to do with this particular accident. As Konney's counsel acknowledged in oral argument, given the directions in which these two vehicles were traveling, the drivers' line of sight for each vehicle was better as they approached this intersection than it would have been had the intersection been at right angles. Furthermore, we note that the effect of the unusual geometry of the intersection was not presented to the jury as a factor that caused this accident. What Konney did emphasize to the jury was the lack of a flashing beacon and rumble strips at the intersection. Interestingly, the evidence presented at trial reflects that no accidents occurred at this intersection between 1973 and 1977. That fact establishes that this intersection was not a known dangerous condition when it was created, distinct from any other rural highway intersection controlled by a stop sign.
This case has been presented to this Court on the basis of a failure of the duty to warn of a known dangerous condition; however, we find that the true basis for Konney's assertion is that the State and the County were negligent for failing to upgrade this intersection. This is clear from how the case was presented to the jury. Konney does not argue that there was a need for a flashing beacon at this intersection when this road was first constructed or that there is a need for a flashing beacon at all rural intersections of state and county roads. In fact, Konney made this point to the jury by asserting that, once fatal accidents occurred between 1978 and 1982, these accidents mandated upgrading this intersection to include a flashing beacon and rumble strips.
The facts of this case are controlled by our decisions in Neilson and Ingham and particularly the statement that the "failure by the governmental entity to upgrade and reconstruct the intersection and install additional traffic control devices to meet present needs" was not actionable. Neilson, 419 So.2d at 1078. The decision of whether to upgrade this intersection is a judgmental, planning-level function, to which absolute immunity applies. To do otherwise would allow the judicial branch to infringe upon the legislative and executive function of deciding where tax dollars should be allocated for our roads and highways.
Accordingly, we quash the decision of the district court of appeal and direct that this case be remanded for entry of a judgment in favor of petitioners.
It is so ordered.
McDONALD and GRIMES, JJ., concur.
BARKETT, J., concurs specially with an opinion.
KOGAN, J., concurs specially with an opinion, in which SHAW, C.J., and BARKETT, J., concur.
SHAW, C.J., concurs in result only.
appendix 1
. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
. A diagram of the intersection is attached as Appendix 1.
. Art. II, § 3, Fla. Const.