Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...markings, and other traffic control devices for the regulation, control, guidance, and protection of traffic on the State Highway System. Such system shall conform to the department's uniform system of traffic control devices as adopted pursuant to s. 316.0745. Section 316.0745, Florida Statutes (1989), entitled "Uniform Signals and Devices," provided in pertinent part: (1) The Department of Transportation shall adopt a uniform system of traffic control devices for use on the streets and highways of the state....

...er 316. The City sought to dismiss the action, alleging the plaintiffs lacked standing. The trial court concluded otherwise, denied the motion, and ultimately entered a summary final judgment on both counts for the plaintiffs. This appeal ensued. In section 316.0745(1), Florida Statutes (1995), the legislature granted the Department of Transportation authority to adopt a uniform system of traffic control devices for use on Florida's streets and highways. Section 316.0745(3) requires that all traffic control signals or devices installed by a public body, such as the City, conform with the DOT's regulations. The authority to direct the removal of any traffic control device that fails to meet the requirement of section 316.0745 rests with the DOT. See § 316.0745(7)....

...Legislative intent is the luminous polestar by which this court must be guided. See In re: Order on Prosecution of Criminal Appeals by Tenth Judicial Circuit Public Defender, 561 So.2d 1130, 1137 (Fla.1990). Therefore, we must ascertain whether the legislature intended to create a private cause of action by enacting section 316.0745....

...here. The legislative intent of chapter 316 is to provide for the public safety of both vehicle operators and pedestrians by standardizing equipment and by ensuring that each device is appropriate for its function. Further, the enforcement power for section 316.0745 is vested in the Department of Transportation....

...Therefore, the plaintiffs possess no private cause of action and, accordingly, lack standing to institute such a claim. We next consider whether standing derives from any other basis. First, because the plaintiffs claim entitlement to the protections *743 afforded by section 316.0745, Florida Statutes, they contend that they can seek redress in the courts as guaranteed by Article I, Section 21, of the Florida Constitution. As to this contention, we have held that section 316.0745 does not create a privately enforceable duty; therefore, the argument that redress is available in the courts for the claimed injury also fails....

...e care for the safety of motorists whenever its track crosses a highway and shall be responsible for erecting and maintaining crossbuck grade-crossing warning signs in accordance with the uniform system of traffic control devices adopted pursuant to s. 316.0745....

...fic control devices by the governmental entity having jurisdiction over or maintenance responsibility for the highway or street .... [3] FLA. STAT. § 351.03(1)-(2). The reference to "the uniform system of traffic control devices adopted pursuant to s. 316.0745" is a reference to the Federal Highway Administration ("FHA") Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 2003 Edition, ("MUTCD"). See FLA. STAT. § 316.0745(2); FLA....

...ng any track intersecting a public road at grade and upon which railroad trains are operated shall erect traffic control devices that are necessary to conform with the requirements of the uniform system of traffic control devices adopted pursuant to s. 316.0745....

...pplies only at new installations and at locations where replacements of existing devices are being made. Fla. Stat. § 316.171. As with Section 351.03, Section 316.171's reference to "the uniform system of traffic control devices adopted pursuant to s. 316.0745" is a reference to the MUTCD....