FL S0070

Appropriates $1,116,940 from the General Revenue Fund to compensate the estate and surviving family members of Christian Darby Stephenson, who died on August 12, 2000, when his gasoline tanker jackknifed and exploded on the Hart Bridge Expressway in Duval County

A jury found the Department of Transportation 36% negligent for failing to maintain drains that caused standing water on the expressway, leading to a chain of hydroplaning accidents that Stephenson tried to avoid

Distributes funds as follows: $404,575.65 to the estate, $237,454.78 to widow Amie Draiemann O'Brien, $311,212.04 in trust for minor child Hailey Morgan Stephenson, and $163,697.53 in trust for minor child Christian Darby Stephenson II

The Department of Transportation previously paid $175,100 under the state's sovereign immunity cap (s. 768.28), with this claim bill covering the remaining judgment amount

Limits attorney fees, lobbying fees, costs, and similar expenses to 25% of the amount awarded under the act