William G. Hyland, Jr. (Deland, FL) (Premises Liability) obtained a Dismissal after the court granted our Motion for Summary Judgment for FDOT. This is an action in negligence for an incident that occurred on a sidewalk in Volusia County, Florida. Plaintiff alleges that he was riding a motorized tricycle on the sidewalk when a wheel became caught on protruding bolts from the sidewalk, which caused the tricycle to stop abruptly, throwing him forward, and causing him injury. Plaintiff alleges negligence based upon the existence of this dangerous condition and the failure to maintain. As a result of the incident, the Plaintiff claimed severe injuries to his knees, hip, wrist and back, entailing surgery and $90,000 in total medical bills.
The defense argued that the undisputed facts show that the alleged dangerous condition on the property (i.e. the metal bolts) were so open and obvious, readily observable by any reasonable person, and not hidden or concealed in any way. The open and obvious nature of the alleged dangerous condition, as a matter of law, bars imposition of any liability on Defendant. The court agreed, holding that the protruding bolts are an open and obvious, albeit, dangerous condition, discharging a duty to warn. Dampier v. Morgan Tire & Auto, LLC, 82 So. 3d 204, 207 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012) (“An owner of land is not required to give an invitee warning of an obvious danger and entitled to assume an invitee will perceive something obvious”).