414 So. 2d 1145

Walburga BELTRAN, William Beltran, individually and as personal representatives of the Estate of Candice Beltran, a minor deceased, Appellants, v. WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC. of Florida, Bobby Johnson and American Motorists Insurance Company, Appellees.

No. 81-63.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

June 8, 1982.

*1146Cohen & Cohen, Miami Beach, Greene & Cooper and Mark Cooper, Miami, for appellants.

Kimbrell, Hamann, Jennings, Womack, Carlson & Kniskem and Robert Tucker and Stanley Buky, Miami, for appellees.

Before HUBBART, C. J., and HENDRY and JORGENSON, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

The Beltrans appeal from a final judgment following a jury trial which found no negligence on the part of Waste Management, Inc. of Florida and its driver, Bobby Johnson. We reverse.

The trial court erred when it granted, over plaintiff’s objection, a defense-requested instruction dealing, in essence, with “last clear chance”,1 which was approved by our Supreme Court in Kerr v. Caraway, 78 So.2d 571 (Fla.1955). Since Kerr was decided, Florida has become a comparative negligence state. Hoffman v. Jones, 280 So.2d 431 (Fla.1973). To the extent that the instruction approved in Kerr has any efficacy, it is not applicable in a comparative negligence setting. Whitman v. Red Top Sedan Service, Inc., 218 So.2d 213 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969); see also Fla.Std.Jury Instr. (Civ.) 4.7; cf. Florida East Coast Railway Co. v. McKinney, 227 So.2d 99 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969).

For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the circuit court is reversed and this cause remanded for a new trial.

Beltran v. Waste Management, Inc.
414 So. 2d 1145

Case Details

Name
Beltran v. Waste Management, Inc.
Decision Date
Jun 8, 1982
Citations

414 So. 2d 1145

Jurisdiction
Florida

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