Case Name: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, State of Florida, Petitioner, v. Brenda WALLIS and George Wallis, Respondents
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1995-08-11
Citations: 659 So. 2d 429
Docket Number: No. 95-492
Parties: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, State of Florida, Petitioner, v. Brenda WALLIS and George Wallis, Respondents.
Judges: THOMPSON, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 659
Pages: 429–432

Head Matter:
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, State of Florida, Petitioner, v. Brenda WALLIS and George Wallis, Respondents.
No. 95-492.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Aug. 11, 1995.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and William Peter Martin, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for petitioner.
James Allen Scott, Jr., Palm Coast, for respondents.

Opinion:
PETERSON, Chief Judge.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) seeks certiorari review of the trial court's denial of DOT's motion to dismiss respondent Brenda Wallis' complaint on the basis of sovereign immunity. Wallis, a tourist visiting the Daytona Beach area, was injured when she attempted to cross Atlantic Avenue mid-block, sued DOT, claiming that the lack of a nearby stoplight, coupled with the lack of a sidewalk, in a high-tourist area created a dangerous condition which the DOT had a duty to correct.
DOT is entitled to relief, although not through a petition for writ of certiorari. In Tucker v. Resha, 648 So.2d 1187 (Fla.1994), the Florida Supreme Court held that an order denying a motion for summary judgment that is based upon a qualified immunity claim is subject to interlocutory review as to issues of law. This petition involves a claim of sovereign immunity made by DOT in its motion to dismiss, and, as such, it falls within the ambit of Tucker and thus should be treated as a reviewable appeal of a non-final order. See also Goetz v. Noble, 652 So.2d 1203 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995). But see Department of Educ. v. Roe, 656 S.2d 507 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). As noted in Tucker, the entitlement to immunity from suit "is effectively lost if a case is erroneously permitted to go to trial." Tucker at 1189, quoting Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2815, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985).
DOT's petition relies upon the well-settled law which states that a governmental entity may be liable when its planning-level decision creates a known, hidden trap. In such circumstances, the entity had a duty to warn the public of — or to protect the public from — -the known danger. However, the entity is not liable when the dangerous condition is "readily apparent." In this case, it is clear that, as a matter of law, the danger was readily apparent. Anyone with the ability to see can readily appreciate the danger of automobiles traveling on a road designed just for that purpose.
The leading street-crossing case is Payne v. Broward County, 461 So.2d 63 (Fla.1984). In Payne, the plaintiffs family sued when, at a point where the sidewalk ended, their daughter tried to cross a road and was killed. A unanimous court found that decisions about roads generally are of the judgmental, planning-level type which would provide sovereign immunity for the DOT. Id. at 65 (citing Department of Transp. v. Neilson, 419 So.2d 1071, 1077 (Fla.1982)). However, liability may arise from a planning-level decision when that decision creates a hidden trap. In such circumstances, a duty at the operational level arises to warn the public of, or protect the public from, the known danger. Id. (citing City of St. Petersburg v. Collom, 419 So.2d 1082 (Fla.1982)). Because the danger of crossing a roadway was readily apparent to potential victims and did not constitute a hidden trap for pedestrians, the supreme court upheld the directed verdict in favor of DOT. See also Paneque v. Metropolitan Dade County, 478 So.2d 414, 415 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985) (danger of crossing street readily apparent; thus, county's immunity was matter of law for judge to resolve); Department of Transp. v. Caffiero, 522 So.2d 57 (Fla. 2d DCA) (danger a pedestrian faces in crossing a street is readily apparent; therefore sovereign immunity applies), rev. denied, 531 So.2d 167 (Fla.1988); Masters v. Wright, 508 So.2d 1299 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987) (summary judgment in favor of DOT proper when pedestrian on bridge with unprotected walkway hit by car and killed).
The results in Payne, et al., are controlling. We reverse and remand with directions to dismiss the complaint against DOT.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
THOMPSON, J., concurs.
W. SHARP, J., dissents with opinion.
. Her theory was that the area was more dangerous than an ordinary street because the street was lined with beach-front hotels on one side and various shops and businesses on the other side. Therefore, there would be many tourists crossing the street and many tourists, driving cars in an unfamiliar area, who would be busy reading various neon signs and who would not be paying full attention to their driving.