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TALLAHASSEE - Once the government gives people something to help make them safe, do they have a right to expect that it will always work? That was the central question in a debate Wednesday in the House over street lights.
Utility companies and cities would have immunity from lawsuits when people suffer harm on a dark street because of nonfunctioning lights under a measure (HB 1573) the House considered.
A court decision last year allowed the family of a pedestrian killed on an unlit Jacksonville street to sue an electric company for not maintaining the light. That led Rep. Dwight Stansel, D-Wellborn, to introduce the bill.
Stansel argues that street lights aren't a right but a benefit cities may choose to provide.
"If you're deprived of this benefit, it does not and should not result in a liability," he said.
There is new interest in the issue because of the hit-and-run deaths of two children last month along a street in Tampa where witnesses said the lights were out. Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz, tried to change the bill to allow lawsuits if a company doesn't make some effort to fix lights it has been told are broken, but his amendment was beaten back.
His proposal would have brought the House bill closer to a Senate version, which says companies could be held liable if they failed to fix a light within 30 days of being told it was broken.
If the House bill passes, the difference would have to be addressed with the Senate.