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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    7

    Default Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Stake Placed in a Legal Parking Spot

    My question involves damages that occurred in the state of: Florida

    Overview of what happened:
    Last Tuesday, January 27th, the front of my vehicle was damaged when I was attempting to park in a public parking space owned by the City of Coral Gables, Florida. This damage resulted from a cable that was attached to a metal stake in the ground of the parking space. The cable was attached to the ground of the parking space from a nearby light pole (presumably for structural support). The cable/metal stake was in the back-end of the parking space, without a concrete bumper to prevent a vehicle from hitting the cable/stake. The cable/metal stake, due its coloring (and the fact the stake was so close to the ground) made it virtually impossible to see from the road, when pulling into the parking space.

    About 7-8 minutes after I removed my vehicle from the parking space to assess the damage another driver attempted to park in the space and also experienced damage to the front of her vehicle (fortunately not as severe as the damaged I experienced).

    I ended up with about $880 worth of body damage to the front of my vehicle. I filed a claim with my insurance company and had it repaired (the repairs were completed on Monday of this week). I had to pay a $500 deductible as part of the cost to repair my vehicle, and another $175 (approximately) in fees for a rental car.

    I contacted the City of Coral Gables to seek reimbursement and they directed me to the city's insurance company to start a claim. I was informed by the city's insurance company today that they determined that the utility company (Florida Power & Light) that owns/maintains the light pole and associated cabling was liable and I should file a claim with them (which I did today and FP&L indicated I would hear back in about 3 business days).

    My questions:
    1) Since the City of Coral Gables owns the parking space, are they responsible to ensure any utility equipment that is located within their parking space is properly maintained and does not present a danger to users of their space?

    2) Since I notified the City of Coral Gables about this hazardous situation with the parking space over a week ago the cable/stake has not been fixed and the parking space remains open. Does this constitute negligence since they are now knowingly operating a public parking space (and collecting revenue from this parking space since it is metered) under hazardous conditions?

    3) As I indicated above, I have started the claims process with FP&L, although I am not optimistic that they will reimburse me for the damages, based on the initial conversation with them today. If my claim is rejected what are my legal options?

    Thank you.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
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    OH10
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    17,019

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Cable/Stake in Parking Space - Who is Responsible

    Not to be obvious here, but I doubt the cable moved out and struck your car. That means you failed to see an obstruction/fixed object and hit it. It is on you buddy.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    7

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Cable/Stake in Parking Space - Who is Responsible

    Quote Quoting Disagreeable
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    Not to be obvious here, but I doubt the cable moved out and struck your car. That means you failed to see an obstruction/fixed object and hit it. It is on you buddy.
    I disagree… the stake (which is what caused the damaged), was not easily visible from the road unless you already knew it was there or were actively looking for it. After the accident, I went back to the road to see the visibility of the stake, and it was not visible unless you squinted and were looking closely for it (mainly due to the fact it is low to the ground, and is a cement color).

    Not even 10 minutes after my accident another person hit this same stake and suffered damage to the front of her vehicle.

    Also when the police officer wrote up accident reports for both of us he indicated this has happened several times previously to other vehicles, by hitting the stake/cable in this same parking space.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
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    OH10
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    17,019

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Cable/Stake in Parking Space - Who is Responsible

    Did you think the taunt cable was attached to thin air?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    7

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Cable/Stake in Parking Space - Who is Responsible

    Quote Quoting Disagreeable
    View Post
    Did you think the taunt cable was attached to thin air?
    The cable itself is difficult to see since it is thin and you aren't able to really see it until you are already pulling into the parking space from the road.

    The stake that attaches the cable to the cement ground is situated in a way that it sticks out about 7-8 inches away from where it is attached to the cable (towards the direction where a vehicle would be pulling into the parking space). The stake is at a slant and not straight up in the air.

    Even once you see the cable, I which I did when I was halfway into the parking space, you can't tell there is a 7-8 inch stake protruding from it so when you think you have stopped short of the cable, you have in fact hit your vehicle on a stake that is just high enough to damage the bumper/front of your vehicle, yet not high enough to see as you are in the process of pulling into the space (made worse by the fact the color of the stake is virtually the same color as the concrete pavement).

    - - - Updated - - -

    Also to add, there are other light poles with similar set-ups in this area that have support cables attached to parking spaces in the similar manner that I described in my original post, yet all of them that I have seen have a plastic yellow reflective coating towards the bottom of the cable that is staked to the ground to make them readily visible.

    The cable/stake in the parking space where my vehicle was damaged had no coating.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Behind a Desk
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    98,846

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Stake Placed in a Legal Parking Spot

    Disagreeable is prone to make sweeping statements about the law, but his confidence in his assumptions about the law does not of itself mean that he's correct.
    Quote Quoting Florida7
    View Post
    1) Since the City of Coral Gables owns the parking space, are they responsible to ensure any utility equipment that is located within their parking space is properly maintained and does not present a danger to users of their space?
    If it's their workers and their equipment, then they would be responsible for the actions. If it's a third party, absent some reason to believe that they knew or should have known of the issue, and absent some opportunity to take corrective action, no, they are not automatically responsible merely because it's a municipal parking lot.
    Quote Quoting Florida7
    2) Since I notified the City of Coral Gables about this hazardous situation with the parking space over a week ago the cable/stake has not been fixed and the parking space remains open. Does this constitute negligence since they are now knowingly operating a public parking space (and collecting revenue from this parking space since it is metered) under hazardous conditions?
    Perhaps, but that doesn't help you. It sounds like this cable has been in place for a long time, and without seeing it we're not in a position to comment on how obvious it is, or how avoidable it is when parking in the space. As you note, the location of the stake and cable aren't what create the hazard, as you are suggesting that with a "plastic yellow reflective coating" the stake would be easy enough to see and avoid. Is there a picture or a Google Maps street view that you could share?
    Quote Quoting Florida7
    3) As I indicated above, I have started the claims process with FP&L, although I am not optimistic that they will reimburse me for the damages, based on the initial conversation with them today. If my claim is rejected what are my legal options?
    Assuming you have coverage under your own policy, your best bet is to make a claim under your own insurance and let them try to subrogate against (that is, recover the money that they pay to you from) any party or parties that they deem responsible.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
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    OH10
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    17,019

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Stake Placed in a Legal Parking Spot

    We are also accepting his assumption this was a parking space and not an overlapping segment not designated for parking.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    18,340

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Stake Placed in a Legal Parking Spot

    Quote Quoting Florida7
    View Post
    1) Since the City of Coral Gables owns the parking space, are they responsible to ensure any utility equipment that is located within their parking space is properly maintained and does not present a danger to users of their space?
    Probably not. My guess is that the city gave an easement to the utility company that holds the utility company responsible for any equipment they install in that easement. You'll have to get a copy of that easement document to make sure.

    Quote Quoting Florida7
    View Post
    2) Since I notified the City of Coral Gables about this hazardous situation with the parking space over a week ago the cable/stake has not been fixed and the parking space remains open. Does this constitute negligence since they are now knowingly operating a public parking space (and collecting revenue from this parking space since it is metered) under hazardous conditions?
    It could, but it doesn't help you.

    Quote Quoting Florida7
    View Post

    3) As I indicated above, I have started the claims process with FP&L, although I am not optimistic that they will reimburse me for the damages, based on the initial conversation with them today. If my claim is rejected what are my legal options?
    Your option is to file a lawsuit. You can do it in small claims court without an attorney. But Florida small claims court allows attorney representation so you can bet you'll be going up against the utility company's attorney.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Quoting Florida7
    View Post
    when the police officer wrote up accident reports for both of us he indicated this has happened several times previously to other vehicles, by hitting the stake/cable in this same parking space.
    That could be important because one of the elements of negligence is to know about a hazardous condition and fail to remedy it.

    However, you would have to prove that the utility company was actually notified of the condition, not just that others had been damaged. If all those others that had been damaged just filed police reports and then got their cars fixed by their own insurance or with their own money without making a claim, the utility company might never have known about the other incidents.

    Florida small claims rules allow for discovery (Rule 7.020) so if you end up suing you can request production of records of previous claims arising from that location.

    http://www.floridabar.org/TFB/TFBResources.nsf/0/5e3d51af15ee8dcd85256b29004bfa62/$FILE/Small%20Claims.pdf

    I have no opinion as to whether you win or lose. There is some merit to the argument that the equipment was there in front of you and you hit it. There is also some merit in the argument that a hazard condition existed.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    3,666

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Stake Placed in a Legal Parking Spot

    Quote Quoting Florida7
    View Post
    This damage resulted from a cable that was attached to a metal stake in the ground of the parking space. The cable was attached to the ground of the parking space from a nearby light pole (presumably for structural support). The cable/metal stake was in the back-end of the parking space, without a concrete bumper to prevent a vehicle from hitting the cable/stake. The cable/metal stake, due its coloring (and the fact the stake was so close to the ground) made it virtually impossible to see from the road, when pulling into the parking space.
    Maybe in the mean time that you await a decision from the power company, you could drop an orange traffic cone on the stake so no one else becomes unfortunate?

    I know it's not your job, but consider it a good deed.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    7

    Default Re: Vehicle Damaged by Hard-To-See Stake Placed in a Legal Parking Spot

    Thanks to everyone for the information… very helpful and appreciated.

    I have enclosed a Google Map link to the location of the parking space that you can view on Street View.

    Link: https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7106...seSxmU-iTQ!2e0

    The parking space where my vehicle was damaged is where the dark blue/navy SUV is parked, (near the light pole).

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