Opinion ID: 1136194
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts and court proceedings to date

Text: On August 31, 1992, Harold Ridley, while driving his pickup truck, and his daughter Tabitha, who was a passenger in the truck, were involved in an intersection collision with a service truck being operated by an employee of Safety Kleen Corporation. On February 16, 1993, Mr. Ridley sued the Safety Kleen Corporation and Calhoun County. It was alleged that the Safety Kleen vehicle had proceeded into the intersection over the word STOP painted on the roadway, and that Calhoun County was responsible for the maintenance of traffic control devices at the intersection where the accident occurred. In its answer, Safety Kleen raised Mr. Ridley's failure to use his seat belt as an affirmative defense to Ridley's claim for damages. Safety Kleen also filed a counterclaim against Mr. Ridley for property damage and other losses sustained by Safety Kleen in the accident and a cross-claim against Calhoun County. At trial, Safety Kleen requested but was denied an instruction on a Florida traffic statute requiring motorists to wear seat belts. Ultimately, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Ridleys. In the interrogatory verdict, the jury found Safety Kleen one hundred percent at fault for the accident. Neither Mr. Ridley nor Calhoun County was found comparatively negligent, and Mr. Ridley's failure to wear a seat belt was not found to have contributed to his injuries. On appeal, the First District reversed and held that the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to give Safety Kleen's requested instruction on Florida's statutory seat belt law. Safety Kleen Corp. v. Ridley, 666 So.2d 913, 915 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). The court reasoned: Because the jury was not told that violation of the seat belt statute constituted evidence of negligence, it was not adequately informed as to the law under all the circumstances. The requested instruction was not fairly covered by the other instructions and it was material to the issue in this case; thus, the refusal to instruct the jury as to this point cannot be considered harmless. Id. (citation omitted). In response to several motions for rehearing and clarification, the First District issued a second opinion which (1) allowed the jury verdict to stand in Calhoun County's favor and dismissed it from this case, (2) upheld its initial reversal of the jury's verdict, and (3) certified the question of great public importance we have previously quoted. Safety Kleen Corp., 666 So.2d at 915-16.