Grier v. Metropolitan Dade County

In Grier v. Metropolitan Dade County, 660 So. 2d 273 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), the Court did not hold that the County had a non-delegable duty under all circumstances to maintain its roads, sidewalks, and rights-of-way in a reasonably safe condition. Instead, Grier held that "in the absence of regulations to the contrary or obvious defects a pedestrian is entitled to use every part of the street, and is entitled to assume that every part of the street is reasonably safe for crossing. In such use, only ordinary care is required." Id. at 274. The "ordinary" care referred to is the level of care to which a municipality is held with regard to maintaining a street, as opposed to a sidewalk, used by pedestrians. The duty of ordinary care arises only "in the absence of . . . obvious defects." Id. The defect in this case--the flooding--was manifestly obvious. Unlike the plaintiff in Grier, the plaintiff in this case was not "entitled to assume that the street was reasonably safe for him to cross." Id. at 275.