HB 0675 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the South Florida Water Management
3	District; providing for the relief of Brian Daiagi;
4	authorizing and directing the South Florida Water
5	Management District to compensate Mr. Daiagi for personal
6	injuries that he suffered due to the negligence of the
7	South Florida Water Management District; providing an
8	effective date.
9
10	WHEREAS, on the morning of August 10, 1992, Brian Daiagi, a
11	20-year-old single resident of Broward County was traveling on a
12	dirt bike, westbound on the shoulder of Griffin Road with
13	Richard Truntz, an off-duty police officer with the Hollywood
14	Police Department, who was also on a dirt bike, and
15	WHEREAS, across the shoulder of the road, hidden in tall
16	grass and unbeknownst to both of them, was a drainage culvert
17	that ran perpendicular to and across the shoulder of the road on
18	which they were traveling, and
19	WHEREAS, this drainage culvert that was placed on land
20	owned by the South Florida Water Management District had been
21	there for many years and, at one point, Bell South was to have
22	erected a security fence around the drainage culvert, having
23	obtained permission to lay telephone cables on the road
24	shoulder, but Bell South ultimately failed to erect the security
25	fence, and
26	WHEREAS, despite having notice that the security fence had
27	not been erected, the South Florida Water Management District
28	did not act to protect or warn of the hidden drainage culvert,
29	and
30	WHEREAS, on August 10, 1992, at approximately 3:00 p.m.,
31	when the two riders were returning to Brian Daiagi's home,
32	Richard Truntz was unable to get his dirt bike out of first gear
33	and could ride only very slowly and suggested that Brian ride
34	ahead and meet later at Mr. Daiagi's house, and
35	WHEREAS, while wearing a helmet and full protective gear
36	and traveling at approximately 25 m.p.h., Brian Daiagi drove his
37	dirt bike into the hidden drainage culvert, and
38	WHEREAS, Mr. Daiagi had never ridden his dirt bike in the
39	area where the accident occurred, and had moved to this western
40	area of Broward County approximately 3 weeks prior to the
41	accident, and
42	WHEREAS, the drainage culvert cannot be seen with the naked
43	eye and was completely obscured by long grass along the road,
44	and
45	WHEREAS, the South Florida Water Management District is
46	responsible for cutting the grass in this area, and
47	WHEREAS, testimony at the trial of the case indicated that
48	the grass was at least "knee high" and obscured the culvert from
49	ordinary view, and Richard Truntz testified that he would have
50	also driven into the culvert except for the fact that he was
51	traveling in first gear and was able to stop 2 feet short of the
52	culvert by breaking hard, and
53	WHEREAS, the South Florida Water Management District
54	acknowledged during the trial that it had knowledge that
55	"passers-by" used the road shoulder and took the position that
56	Brian Daiagi was "an invitee" on the premises, and
57	WHEREAS, Brian Daiagi sustained a crush fracture to his
58	spine, was rendered a paraplegic as a result of the incident,
59	was paralyzed from the waist down, and, according to Dr. Barth
60	Green who treated Mr. Daiagi for his injuries, will always be
61	confined to a wheelchair within a reasonable degree of medical
62	probability, and
63	WHEREAS, the specific injuries include a T10-T11 fracture
64	with complete paraplegia below the navel; comminuted fracture of
65	the vertebrae at T11; multiple fractures of the spine at L1, L2,
66	L3, and L4; posttraumatic stress disorder; depression; pain
67	secondary to the spinal cord injury; bowel dysfunction;
68	nonfunctioning bladder that requires 24-hour catheterization;
69	and complete sexual impotence, and
70	WHEREAS, there was no testimony that Brian Daiagi was
71	speeding at the time of the accident and the South Florida Water
72	Management District claimed that Mr. Daiagi was not looking
73	where he was going, and
74	WHEREAS, the trial court allowed the jury to visit the
75	scene of the accident and the jury agreed by their verdict that
76	the drainage culvert was completely obscured and could not be
77	seen and, at the time the jury visited the site, the grass was
78	above knee level, and
79	WHEREAS, an engineer and accident reconstructionist who was
80	called by Mr. Daiagi as an expert witness testified that Mr.
81	Daiagi's speed, based upon where he was found on the other side
82	of the culvert, was approximately 25.6 m.p.h., requiring 90 feet
83	in which to stop, at which distance Mr. Daiagi could not have
84	seen the culvert, and
85	WHEREAS, at the time of the accident, Mr. Daiagi was
86	working in a jewelry store and is now 30 years of age and lives
87	in western Broward County, and
88	WHEREAS, a verdict was rendered in the case on September
89	29, 2000, finding that the South Florida Water Management
90	District was 80 percent negligent in causing the injuries
91	sustained by Brian Daiagi, and awarding damages totaling
92	$4,344,000, which took into account a finding of 20 percent
93	comparative negligence by Mr. Daiagi, and
94	WHEREAS, the verdict was later reduced by the trial court
95	due to collateral source payments pursuant to health insurance,
96	resulting in an amended final judgment entered by the trial
97	court on May 10, 2001, in the amount of $4,008,616.63, and
98	WHEREAS, the South Florida Water Management District
99	appealed the verdict to the Fourth District Court of Appeals and
100	the verdict was upheld in a unanimous opinion by the appellate
101	court on July 17, 2002, Case Number 4D01-1918, NOW, THEREFORE,
102
103	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
104
105	Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act
106	are found and declared to be true.
107	Section 2. The South Florida Water Management District is
108	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the county
109	not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in the amount
110	of $4,008,616.63, payable to Brian Daiagi to compensate him for
111	personal injuries and damages suffered as a result of the
112	negligence of the South Florida Water Management District.
113	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.