70-car Pileup, Multiple Deaths in Lakeland Highlight Outdated Sovereign Immunity Limits
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A "controlled" burn started by Florida Fish and Wildlife turned into a raging brushfire and a deathtrap for motorists on I-4 Wednesday morning, January 9, and when the smoke clears, the government agencies responsible for this tragedy will pay next to nothing to the victims and their families.
As of this writing, four are dead and more than three dozen injured as a result of the collisions. More than 70 vehicles, including 20 tractor trailers, were involved in the collisions, just east of Lakeland. Several cars and tractor trailers burned. Too late, authorities decided to close down I-4 in both directions.
Questions are already being asked about the role of Fish and Wildlife in failing to control the blaze, and the Florida Department of Transportation in failing to close I-4 when heavy smoke began obscuring drivers' seeing distances. Unfortunately, Florida's sovereign immunity statute limits a governmental entity's liability to $100,000 per person, and $200,000 total for all claims "arising out of the same incident or occurrence."
This raises one immediate issue for those involved in the tragedy: Is the series of collisions the "same incident" or are they considered separate?
The long-term issue is: Should the State of Florida significantly raise the sovereign immunity limits of liability? The current limitations have been in place for years, and as these collisions show, they are woefully inadequate. Even when there is just one death, $100,000 is hardly fair recompense. And in a tragedy this large, $200,000 is downright insulting to the victims and their families.
The sovereign immunity statute does permit victims of the negligence of the state's political subdivisions to submit what is known as a "claims bill" to the State Legislature for compensation above $100,000 per person or $200,000 per incident. However, that adds an extra layer of delay to compensation. It would be simpler and more equitable to victims simply to raise the sovereign immunity limits to reasonable levels.
It should be pointed out that these limitations do not apply to any at-fault drivers involved in the collisions. Also, by law, tractor trailers are required to be insured for at least $750,000. Nevertheless, when all is said and done, it is likely that the victims and their families will be left far short of fair compensation, particularly those who don't act quickly to preserve their rights and their share of what little there is to divide among the others involved.
For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.