Updated: 2/9/23

Who is Liable for an Accident at a Construction Zone?

Road work, either in maintaining and repairing Florida roadways; building new freeways; or expanding existing routes and streets, is pretty commonplace here in the area of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. Driving to work, home, school, or off to the beach or a restaurant on the weekend means drivers pass those orange warning cones or signs to slow down in construction areas all the time. We’re used to it.

However, construction work zones on highways and streets here in Florida are dangers that should never be taken for granted. All too often, these are areas with much higher risks of accidents and serious injury or death. Car crashes and auto accidents in a Florida roadway’s construction zone can result in life-altering injuries for loved ones and their families that happen in split seconds.

Roadway Construction Zones

In any area where traffic moves that is in need of repair or construction, workers are responsible for making sure that drivers are well aware that the area is hazardous. Things like warning signs, flashing lights, and big orange neon barrels are all to be placed well in advance of the driver’s path into the construction zone area so that drivers have a chance to brake and slow down, change lanes, and maybe even adjust their route and opt for a detour rather than maneuver through the construction zone area.

Why? These road construction zones are very dangerous.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Florida was one of the top three states (others being Texas and California) in the country with the most road work motor vehicle accidents resulting in deaths in 2012. Drivers, passengers, and construction workers are all at risk of serious injury or death in a roadway construction zone accident.

Case Examples of Construction Zone Accidents

In Florida Rock Industries, Inc. v. Rathel, 584 So.2d 624, an employee of a contractor was injured while attempting to avoid a cement truck that was backing up to a construction site. There, the issue decided by the court focused on the question of whether there was negligence on part of the driver of the cement truck and if the jury was the proper party to make that decision. The court held it is the job of the jury to determine if the defendant was negligent based on the evidence, regardless if the evidence is conflicting.

In Foulk v. Perkins – 181 So.2d 704 – a lawsuit was filed against a truck owner for the wrongful death of a bulldozer operator. There, the Court held that the trial judge was not in error in ruling that there was no substantial competent evidence to support the defendant’s defenses:

The evidence is clear that decedent was fatally injured by being crushed between the two trucks. There is no evidence from which it could be inferred that when he was first struck he was at any place other than at some point close to and directly in front of the disabled truck. He had a right to be there and had no reason to anticipate that the moving truck would be driven on a course to collide with the front of the stationary truck. On the contrary he had every reason to expect that he was at the one place the truck would not be driven. This would be true regardless of how noisy and illuminated the moving truck may have been. The sound of the engine and flashing of lights from the truck does not raise an inference that the decedent was alerted to the fact that the truck was off course and endangering his safety. Such circumstances would be equally indicative that the truck was on course and no threat of any kind.

Construction Zone Accidents in Florida

Here in South Florida, where we enjoy weather conditions that allow for road work year-round, drivers face a wide variety of risks as they approach and drive through a roadway construction area. The kinds of accidents that drivers are potentially facing include:

• Colliding with a sign or marker that warns of an upcoming construction zone (hitting barrels, sawhorses, signs, etc.);
• Hitting another vehicle or side-swiping as traffic lanes narrow or end;
• Vehicle hits construction road worker;
• Rear-end collision as traffic slows or stops due to construction interrupting flow of traffic;
• Rear-end accident due to failure to slow down (rear car) or failure to keep brake lines lit as warning (front car).

Driving at night, when it is not as easy to see surrounding traffic as well as road hazards, increases the likelihood of an auto accident in a Florida road construction zone. Failing to slow down as a driver moves through a construction area is another big reason for serious car crashes in construction zones here.

In fact, the risk of a motor vehicle accident in a Florida road construction zone is so high that the state government has invested time and money into researching the issue and finding ways to make Florida drivers safer as they travel through these danger zones.

The Florida Department of Transportation’s studies have resulted in the agency publishing and promoting the following safety tips for Florida drivers moving through road construction zones:

1. Be Alert – Expect anything to occur why entering a work zone.
2. Don’t Tailgate – Unexpected stops frequently occur in work zones.
3. Don’t Speed – Note the posted speed limits in and around the work zone.
4. Don’t Change Lane in the Work Zone – The time saved just isn’t worth the chance.
5. Minimize Distractions – Avoid changing the radio & using cell phones while driving in work zones.
6. Expect the Unexpected – Keep an eye out for workers and their equipment.

Car Crash in a Construction Zone: Do You Have a Claim?

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident that happened in a road construction zone, then you may have a claim for damages not only against the other driver in the accident but against others who may share responsibility for what has happened.

Contributing factors to construction zone accidents can include the construction companies who have contracted to do the work and then failed in their duty to warn drivers of road hazards and dangers. For example, were the warning lights blinking or were they dark? If they weren’t working, then the company may have to answer for that failure to warn.

An experienced car accident lawyer can help you evaluate your situation and determine the potential contributing factors to your accident (”proximate causes”) as well as identify your legal damages (lost wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering, etc.) and those entities (another driver, construction company, etc.) that may share the responsibility for your harm. These construction zone accidents can be complicated and investigation into the contributing factors may take time (something that those responsible for the crash as well as the police officers filing the accident report are not going to explain to you).

What Should You Do?

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Do you have questions or comments? Then please feel free to send Alan an email or call him now at (954) 458-8655.