Florida Landowners Now Liable for Car Accidents Caused by Their Landscaping

In some great news for Florida drivers, the Florida Supreme Court held that homeowners may be liable for personal injuries and wrongful death from car accidents which are caused by the landowner’s failure to prevent their landscaping from overlapping into a public right of way and obstructing other traffic or traffic signs and signals.

In reviewing the case of a 1997 truck accident, which claimed the life of a driver, the Supreme Court extended the liability, which already exists for commercial property owners, to homeowners who improperly allow their trees and bushes to extend over their property-line and into a public right of way. As South Florida personal injury attorneys, we believe that this codification of the law will truly benefit all those traveling on Florida roadways.

The minimal costs and effort now mandated upon private landowners, is greatly outweighed by the life saving benefits to Florida drivers. Finally, victims of Florida car accidents, whose cases were previously denied as unavoidable, now have the right to collect damages from private landowners who disregard the growth of their landscaping. On Thanksgiving, this is certainly something for which all Florida drivers should be thankful.