CS/HB 787

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Brian Daiagi by the South Florida
3	Water Management District; authorizing and directing the
4	South Florida Water Management District to compensate
5	Brian Daiagi for personal injuries that he suffered due to
6	the negligence of the South Florida Water Management
7	District; providing a limitation on attorney's fees,
8	lobbying fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating
9	to the claim; providing an effective date.
10
11	WHEREAS, on the morning of August 10, 1992, Brian Daiagi, a
12	20-year-old single resident of Broward County, was traveling on
13	a dirt bike westbound on the shoulder of Griffin Road with
14	Richard Truntz, an off-duty police officer with the Hollywood
15	Police Department, who was also on a dirt bike, and
16	WHEREAS, across the shoulder of the road, hidden in tall
17	grass and unbeknownst to both of them, was a drainage culvert
18	that ran perpendicular to and across the shoulder of the road on
19	which they were traveling, and
20	WHEREAS, this drainage culvert that was placed on land
21	owned by the South Florida Water Management District had been
22	there for many years and, at one point, Bell South was to have
23	erected a security fence around the drainage culvert, having
24	obtained permission to lay telephone cables on the road
25	shoulder, but Bell South ultimately failed to erect the security
26	fence, and
27	WHEREAS, despite having notice that the security fence had
28	not been erected, the South Florida Water Management District
29	did not act to protect or warn of the hidden drainage culvert,
30	and
31	WHEREAS, on August 10, 1992, at approximately 3:00 p.m.,
32	when the two riders were returning to Brian Daiagi's home,
33	Richard Truntz was unable to get his dirt bike out of first gear
34	and could ride only very slowly and suggested that Brian ride
35	ahead and meet him later at Mr. Daiagi's house, and
36	WHEREAS, while wearing a helmet and full protective gear
37	and traveling at approximately 25 m.p.h., Brian Daiagi drove his
38	dirt bike into the hidden drainage culvert, and
39	WHEREAS, Mr. Daiagi had never ridden his dirt bike in the
40	area where the accident occurred, and had moved to this western
41	area of Broward County approximately 3 weeks prior to the
42	accident, and
43	WHEREAS, the drainage culvert cannot be seen with the naked
44	eye and was completely obscured by long grass along the road,
45	and
46	WHEREAS, the South Florida Water Management District is
47	responsible for cutting the grass in this area, and
48	WHEREAS, testimony at the trial of the case indicated that
49	the grass was at least "knee high" and obscured the culvert from
50	ordinary view, and Richard Truntz testified that he would also
51	have driven into the culvert except for the fact that he was
52	traveling in first gear and was able to stop 2 feet short of the
53	culvert only by breaking hard, and
54	WHEREAS, the South Florida Water Management District
55	acknowledged during the trial that it had knowledge that
56	"passers-by" used the road shoulder and took the position that
57	Brian Daiagi was "an invitee" on the premises, and
58	WHEREAS, Brian Daiagi sustained a crush fracture to his
59	spine, was rendered a paraplegic as a result of the incident,
60	was paralyzed from the waist down, and, according to Dr. Barth
61	Green who treated Mr. Daiagi for his injuries, will always be
62	confined to a wheelchair within a reasonable degree of medical
63	probability, and
64	WHEREAS, the specific injuries include a T10-T11 fracture
65	with complete paraplegia below the navel; comminuted fracture of
66	the vertebrae at T11; multiple fractures of the spine at L1, L2,
67	L3, and L4; posttraumatic stress disorder; depression; pain
68	secondary to the spinal cord injury; bowel dysfunction;
69	nonfunctioning bladder that requires 24-hour catheterization;
70	and complete sexual impotence, and
71	WHEREAS, there was no testimony that Brian Daiagi was
72	speeding at the time of the accident and the South Florida Water
73	Management District claimed that Mr. Daiagi was not looking
74	where he was going, and
75	WHEREAS, the trial court allowed the jury to visit the
76	scene of the accident and the jury agreed by their verdict that
77	the drainage culvert was completely obscured and could not be
78	seen and, at the time the jury visited the site, the grass was
79	above knee level, and
80	WHEREAS, an engineer and accident reconstructionist who was
81	called by Mr. Daiagi as an expert witness testified that Mr.
82	Daiagi's speed, based upon where he was found on the other side
83	of the culvert, was approximately 25.6 m.p.h., requiring 90 feet
84	in which to stop, at which distance Mr. Daiagi could not have
85	seen the culvert, and
86	WHEREAS, at the time of the accident, Mr. Daiagi was
87	working in a jewelry store and is now 36 years of age and lives
88	in western Broward County, and
89	WHEREAS, a verdict was rendered in the case on September
90	29, 2000, finding that the South Florida Water Management
91	District was 80-percent negligent in causing the injuries
92	sustained by Brian Daiagi, and awarding damages totaling
93	$4,344,000, which took into account a finding of 20-percent
94	comparative negligence by Mr. Daiagi, and
95	WHEREAS, the verdict was later reduced by the trial court
96	due to collateral source payments pursuant to health insurance,
97	resulting in an amended final judgment entered by the trial
98	court on May 10, 2001, in the amount of $4,008,616.63, and
99	WHEREAS, the South Florida Water Management District
100	appealed the verdict to the Fourth District Court of Appeals and
101	the verdict was upheld in a unanimous opinion by the appellate
102	court on July 17, 2002, Case Number 4D01-1918, NOW, THEREFORE,
103
104	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
105
106	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
107	are found and declared to be true.
108	Section 2.  The South Florida Water Management District is
109	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
110	district not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in the
111	amount of $3,908,616.63, payable to Brian Daiagi, to compensate
112	him for personal injuries and damages suffered as a result of
113	the negligence of the South Florida Water Management District.
114	Section 3.  This award is intended to provide the sole
115	compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
116	the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
117	injury to Brian Daiagi. The total amount paid for attorney's
118	fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating
119	to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded
120	under this act.
121	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.