Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks v. Estate of Jana Sophie Zoll
A German exchange student was killed crossing State Road A1A between the two halves of Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area. Her estate sued FDEP and FDOT, alleging they knowingly created a dangerous intersection lacking illumination and traffic signals and failed to warn. The Fifth DCA reversed the denial of the agencies' motion to dismiss, holding the amended complaint's own allegations conclusively established that the challenged conduct was discretionary, planning-level decision-making protected by sovereign immunity.
Key facts
- German exchange student Jana Sophie Zoll was killed crossing State Road A1A between two sections of Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area; her estate sued FDEP and FDOT alleging the agencies knowingly created a dangerous intersection lacking illumination and traffic signals and failed to warn of the danger.
- The trial court denied the agencies' motion to dismiss; the Fifth DCA reversed, holding the complaint's own allegations established that the challenged conduct—the creation and design of a divided state park and decisions regarding traffic control, signals, and lighting—constituted discretionary, planning-level decision-making protected by sovereign immunity.
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Why it matters
A useful defense-side authority showing that artful 'known dangerous condition/failure to warn' pleading will not convert a design or traffic-control decision into an operational-level act. The court reads the… — full analysis with a trial
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