MIAMI (Legal Newsline) – Property owners did not have a duty to motorists to maintain the areas next to nearby roads, a Florida appeals court has ruled.

The Third District Court of Appeal on Aug. 10 ruled against Alfredo Lopez, who sued Miami-Dade County, the Florida Department of Transportation and others after he hit a pothole covered with water on SW 187th Avenue.

Lopez hit a guardrail after striking the pothole in 2017, and his initial suit two years later blamed the county and FDOT for not maintaining the road in a safe condition. He later amended his complaint to add owners of the properties abutting the roadway where his accident occurred.