Visibility-limiting smoke on Florida roadways is an ongoing and extremely dangerous problem. It causes numerous car accident injuries and, in some cases, deaths. This smoke is even more dangerous on high-speed, limited-access highways like I-10, I-75, and I-95. It’s also more dangerous at night and in Florida’s cooler months, when low-lying fog is common.

Multiple Causes

Forest and brush fires are natural occurrences, especially in Florida, a state that has the most lightning. However, fires have other causes that can be prevented.

Sometimes intentional misdeeds, arson, cause fires, and sometimes they are caused by carelessness. Negligent burning of trash and other fire-related activities by campers or homeowners are examples of easily preventable causes. Defective equipment or carelessness in construction, logging, and railway equipment can cause these fires, as can traffic accidents.

Prescribed or “controlled” burning is associated with the management of Florida’s forests. Recently, the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture noted a significant reduction in prescribed burns in 2012 due to drought conditions. The Florida Forest Service devised a plan to address future prescribed fire use that carefully balances growth and urbanization in Florida. It is important that those who use these fires take great care to do it well.

Responsibility

For car accident victims with personal injuries caused by smoke that reduces or nearly eliminates visibility, people who suffer personal injuries, and the families of people who die in such tragic accidents, the rules vary depending on the circumstances and the facts. Wanting to determine blame and hold wrongdoers accountable is normal, so much so that it is enshrined in the Florida Constitution as a basic right: “SECTION 21. Access to Courts: Courts shall be open to all persons to redress any injury, and justice will be administered without sale, denial, or delay.”

Driver Actions

No matter who, if anyone, is responsible for the smoke on a highway, the actions of the drivers involved in these accidents will be closely scrutinized. This will bring into play the obligation of operators of vehicles, whether they are passenger cars or tractor-trailers, buses or heavy equipment, to drive with reasonable care under the circumstances. It will be examined and complicated by the following questions:

What is the safest thing to do in a cloud of smoke?
Was there a safe way to get off the road?
How could drivers know where such a safe place was?

Every driver is responsible for driving at an appropriate speed for the conditions, but many drivers may worry about slowing down and being hit from behind by vehicles that don’t slow down. The researchers consider all of these factors. Unfortunately, in the worst of these accidents, the drivers and passengers may have been killed or injured too much to help reconstruct the accident.

Pre-accident condition of drivers

Another factor that investigators always look at is the pre-accident condition of each driver. This includes if any of the drivers involved were impaired by alcohol or drugs, or were distracted by cell phones or other devices.

Especially for professional drivers, the pre-accident condition examines the operator’s driving history. If the driving record is poor, investigators will look at whether the trucking company was or should have known about that driving record, and whether the company took reasonable precautions to protect the public from poor drivers. Training, supervision, and licensing are investigated, along with the number of hours driven by truckers and the accuracy of driver records. Trucking companies and their drivers abide by strict rules intended to protect safety and save lives. Drivers need to be alert and able to make the right driving decisions when operating such large vehicles to avoid trucking accident injuries.

Roadside Smoke Liability

Who is responsible for the presence of smoke on a road? Lightning provides its own response when it is the root cause. However, there are times and circumstances when carelessness in working with fire, or failure to take precautions as to when and under what weather and wind conditions to set “controlled” burns, can add to negligence and lead to liability. After all, without the smoke, the accident probably wouldn’t have happened. In a case of a controlled burn that allegedly caused a tractor-trailer to crash into a small car and kill people, the North Florida Area Court of Appeals held the company responsible for the fire that filled the highway with smoke. 9:30 am night was considered potentially liable for the losses including by the truck driver, who was uninjured but lost his job after the accident. Aguasv. ITT-Rayonier, Inc., 493 So.2d 67 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). Negligent firefighting, especially when that work is done by the government, raises questions about whether sovereign immunity has been waived by law and whether there are exceptions to that waiver that could nullify the ability to assess liability against the government. That problem has been addressed elsewhere. Myers v. McGrady, 628 SE2d 761 (NC 2006) (multi-vehicle collision at night in smoke and fog on I-95).

Vehicles on a smoky highway

Another issue arises and is addressed in part in a recently released report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. This report discusses the role of the Florida Highway Patrol in closing I-75 due to smoke from a Paynes Prairie fire near Gainesville, Florida in January 2012 and later reopening I-75 with collisions. subsequent important with numerous dead and wounded. Document-FDLE-I-75-Incident-Review

While much of the investigation remains to be done, the report points to factual issues that open up the question of the potential liability of the State of Florida. The State, by law, has waived its sovereign immunity from liability for its negligence, but that waiver is subject to rules that give state entities leeway to take action in dealing with many matters, including public safety. Questions will arise as to whether there was negligence in the decision to reopen I-75 to traffic on the night of this tragic accident. Investigators will also examine whether there were warnings about smoke settling onto the roadway and blinding drivers, and if so, whether the warnings were adequate and whether FHP troopers could have done more to warn and control. vehicles traveling on the road. reopened interstate.

The Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Forest Service, and the Florida Department of Transportation have adopted a uniform set of warning signs for use in the event of smoke on Florida roadways, including signs for use at times of prescribed burns. The State Sovereign Immunity Waiver also contains limitations on the amount that can be recovered for wrongful death and serious injury, although recoveries in excess of the caps can be made through legislative claims bills. Section 768.28, Florida Statutes.

conclusion

Smoke on Florida roadways will continue to be a problem. The first thing we can do is be careful to prevent fires from starting or, if prescribed or controlled burns are used for brush and forest management, take all reasonable steps to protect the public from roadside smoke hazards. There is no place for shortcuts; lives are at stake. Proper planning, training and diligence on the part of responsible parties are vital.

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