Miami Dade county negligence

Hello! Thanks for reading my post

4 months ago my brother got a new car, and 2 months ago he was on a parking lot, where county light poll was taken out and only the base was left. There were no warning signs nor the poll was visible when he drove into it, getting damages for $6k according to his insurance adjuster. Recently he wanted to sell the car to get something more fitting for him( he got a atlas VW which is a bit to big), taking advantage of car shortages which brings cars residual value high. We went to VW dealer and he would get almost a full price on his car if not the moderate car accident report in carfax. He is now upside down for like $12k and I told him to look into suing the county for negligence. It wasn't his fault and I think the county is responsible for removing such objects or at least marking it visibly.


Thanks again for answers!

PatMis said:

Hello! Thanks for reading my post

4 months ago my brother got a new car, and 2 months ago he was on a parking lot, where county light poll was taken out and only the base was left. There were no warning signs nor the poll was visible when he drove into it, getting damages for $6k according to his insurance adjuster. Recently he wanted to sell the car to get something more fitting for him( he got a atlas VW which is a bit to big), taking advantage of car shortages which brings cars residual value high. We went to VW dealer and he would get almost a full price on his car if not the moderate car accident report in carfax. He is now upside down for like $12k and I told him to look into suing the county for negligence. It wasn't his fault and I think the county is responsible for removing such objects or at least marking it visibly.


Thanks again for answers!

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What time of day did this happen?

justblue said:

What time of day did this happen?

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6pm

PatMis said:

6pm

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Based on the pictures/description you posted, I don't see how this could have been the city/county's fault. Your brother hit an unmoving, foot and a half tall object, that appears to be on a sidewalk, in daylight. In your opinion, how could this not be your brothers fault?

I concur with justblue's assessment. Your brother isn't going to win any lawsuit against the county.

If he doesn't keep the car until the loan is paid off that's on him, too.

It's really pretty obvious what he was trying to do - drive across the sidewalk to get to the exit more easily/quickly (get in front of other cars?). That's on him.

PatMis said:

he was on a parking lot, where county light poll was taken out and only the base was left. There were no warning signs nor the poll was visible when he drove into it

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Well...I would certainly expect that the pole (not "poll") that had been removed was not visible, although I guess you meant to say that he drove into the base. Why would warning signs be necessary? That base is easily visible to anyone paying attention to where he/she is driving. If it had been dark when this happened, I might think differently, but the sun didn't set until at least 20 minutes after 6pm in early February.

Moreover, the pole is located on a sidewalk, and the damage is to the front of your brother's car. For what purpose was your brother driving forward onto or across a sidewalk (less than 20 feet from a driveway into and out of the parking lot)?

PatMis said:

It wasn't his fault

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That's obviously nothing more than your biased opinion. As a neutral observer, and based solely on the information in your post (along with publicly available sunset times and things that can be reasonably inferred), I disagree.

That said, your brother is free to consult with a local attorney. However, is he prepared to pay a retainer of at least a couple thousand against fees that will be at least $250 per hour? Since this isn't a personal injury matter, no attorney would take the case on a contingent fee basis.

Last, since this would be a claim against a governmental entity, there is a notice procedure that needs to be followed, and it's possible that, after four months, your brother may have missed one or more deadlines. Your brother should google "florida public entity claim procedure."