HB 1573

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to street lighting; creating s. 768.1382,
3	F.S.; limiting liability for certain public and private
4	entities providing street lights, security lights, or
5	other similar illumination; providing that certain
6	entities do not owe duty to the public to provide,
7	operate, or maintain illumination; providing for
8	exceptions; prohibiting certain findings of fault or
9	responsibility of an entity not a party to litigation;
10	providing for severability; providing for application;
11	providing an effective date.
12
13	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15	Section 1.  Section 768.1382, Florida Statutes, is created
16	to read:
17	768.1382  Street lights and other similar illumination;
18	limitation on liability.--Neither the state, any of the state's
19	officers, agencies, or instrumentalities, any political
20	subdivision, as defined in s. 1.01, nor any electric utility, as
21	defined in s. 366.02(2), that provides or operates or maintains
22	street lights, security lights, or other similar illumination
23	shall be held liable for any civil damages for injury or death
24	affected or caused by the adequacy or failure of illumination of
25	such lights, regardless of whether the adequacy or failure of
26	illumination is alleged or demonstrated to have contributed in
27	any manner to the injury or death, unless such liability was
28	expressly assumed by written contract. No such entity that
29	provides, operates, or maintains a manner of illumination as
30	described in this section owes a duty to the public to provide,
31	operate, or maintain the illumination in any manner, except that
32	such a duty may be expressly assumed by written contract. In any
33	civil action for damages arising out of personal injury or
34	wrongful death when an entity's fault regarding the maintenance
35	of street lights is at issue, if the entity responsible for
36	maintaining the street lights is not a party to the litigation,
37	the entity shall not be deemed or found in such action to be in
38	any way at fault or responsible for the injury or death that
39	gave rise to the damages.
40	Section 2.  If any provision of this act or its application
41	to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
42	does not affect other provisions or applications of this act
43	which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
44	application, and to this end the provisions of this act are
45	declared severable.
46	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law
47	and shall apply to causes of action that accrue on or after the
48	effective date.

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