Recent Case Law

Utility that Cut Power to Traffic Light Owes Duty to Public

By Patrick Russell, Esq.

Feb 27, 2003 - 5:44:00 PM

Florida Power & Light v. Goldberg, 3D00-63 (Fla. 3DCA 2002).

The failure of a utility company to notify a village before cutting power to a traffic light was a breach of a duty to the driving public.

In this case, a girl was killed in a traffic accident involving a traffic signal that was not working.  Prior to the accident, a utility company repair person cut power to a pole that controlled the traffic signal.  The power was turned off so that a repair could be made on a damaged line. 

The Court found that the utility company's duty arose from a contract between the utility company and the village whereby the utility company agreed to notify the village of any planned power outages.  In finding liability, the Court reasoned that the utility company intentionally cut the power and thus the failure of the utility company to advise the village of the loss of power prevented the village from sending a police officer to control the intersection.  The intentional act of cutting power and the failure to warn could not be ignored by the Court as it created a foreseeable risk to others that the utility company had a duty to prevent.

It should be noted that this case is distinguished from Arenado v. Florida Power & Light, 523 So.2d 628 (Fla. 4DCA 1988), which held that a utility company does not have a common-law duty to warn motorists for power outages to traffic signals that happen by way of an accident, storm or mechanical failure.