Utility company owed duty to pedestrian hit by truck on unlit street

Law Reporter, May 2004

Clay Elec. Coop., Inc. v. Johnson, __ So.2d__, No. SC011955, 2003 WL 22966277 (Fla. Dec. 18, 2003).

A utility company that failed to keep street lights operating owed a duty to a pedestrian who was killed on a dark street, the Supreme Court of Florida held.

Here, Johnson was walking to his school bus stop early in the morning when a truck struck him. He suffered fatal injuries. His grandmother filed suit against the electric company that was under contract with the local electric authority to maintain the street lights, alleging the truck driver was unable to see Johnson because the light was not working. Plaintiff claimed the light had been broken for some time.

The trial court granted defendant summary judgment, holding that defendant did not have a legally recognized duty to Johnson. An appellate court reversed.

Affirming, the state high court noted that whenever one undertakes to provide a service to others, one assumes a duty to act carefully and not put others at undue risk of harm. This principle applies not only to parties in privity with one another, but also to third parties. Thus, because the electric company agreed to maintain the streetlights, it was obligated to exercise reasonable care in doing so. This duty extended to those such as Johnson, whose injury was a foreseeable consequence of negligent maintenance.

Accordingly, summary judgment was inappropriate.

Plaintiff's Counsel

*Stephen J. Pajcic III,

*Thomas F. Slater,

*William A. Bald, and

Dennis R. Schutt, all of Jacksonville, Fla.

Comment: For an opposite result, see Blake v. Public Serv. Co. of N.M., 82 P.3d 960 (N.M. Ct. App. 2003). In Blake, plaintiff was hit by a car at an intersection where the street light had been removed by the utility company. The appellate court held that a utility company does not have a duty to the public to provide street lights.