(WSVN) - A city dump truck smashed into his parked car. No problem, the city will pay for it, right? Nah, it’s South Florida, and when the city said, “It’s not our fault,” the victim hauled in Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser to sort it all out.
You may have heard people say they work at a dump, and some do … literally.
Christopher Martinez: “It’s not a glamorous job, but it’s something that needs to be done.”
Christopher is a scale operator at a county landfill, where all that garbage picked up in front of your place winds up.
Christopher Martinez: “Could you imagine if there was no garbage pickup. It would pile up and pile up. It would be disgusting.”
Christopher determines how much the trash in a vehicle weighs and how much to charge.
And then a routine day went off the scales.
Christopher Martinez: “It was a shock. I couldn’t believe what had happened. This is a garbage truck on top of my little Jeep. I couldn’t believe it.”
That’s right. As the City of Homestead garbage truck driver approached the scales, he went over the ramp, smashing into Christopher’s SUV in the employee parking lot.
Christopher Martinez: “He told me that he hit this yellow railing off to the right, and he just veered to the left, which makes no sense. You should be able to control your steering wheel.”
Christopher says the truck driver told him, don’t worry about the SUV he destroyed, the City of Homestead would take care of it.
So Christopher called them.
Christopher Martinez: “They told me that it was going to be considered a total loss. They were going to give me a $16,000 check.”
Then they said, “Wait, we want our attorneys to look into this,” and you know what happens when lawyers get involved.
Christopher Martinez: “Soon after that, I received a letter saying that they’re denying the claim.”
Christopher then had to file a claim with his insurance company, not because of his mistake, but one from a city garbage truck driver.
Christopher Martinez: “I’m shocked and amazed. Its something I would not expect for a city to do.”
If a city garbage truck runs into your car, are they responsible, Howard?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “In this case, yes. The law calls this ‘res ipsa loquitur,’ meaning the thing speaks for itself. In other words, the law presumes the driver of the moving vehicle is at fault because the vehicle they hit was stationary. If they refuse to pay, turn the claim over to your insurance and let them fight the city.”
Christopher’s insurance company determined his car was a total loss and gave him $14,000 to replace it. They will now battle Homestead to get that money back, because Homestead’s insurance company wrote, “Our investigation did not find any negligence on the part of our client.”
Miami-Dade Police disagreed and charged the dump truck operator with careless driving.
The Homestead spokesperson wrote, “While the city does not admit to liability, the city did pay the $500 deductible for Mr. Martinez’s claim.”
Christopher Martinez: “Confused, agitated. You know?”
Christopher bought a new Jeep, but he isn’t smiling after we told him Homestead is claiming they were not negligent after their dump truck totaled his SUV.
Christopher Martinez: “Of course, they’re negligent. They did this. How can they say that they’re not negligent? It makes no sense whatsoever.”
As kids, we were told the government is here to help us. Oh, well.
And while Christopher had to file a claim with his insurance company, legally they cannot raise his rates because he was not at fault in the accident. If your insurance company tries to jack up the rates after you are victim of someone else’s mistake, file a complaint with the state to stop the rate hike.
Got a problem you feel is garbage? Don’t trash it. Dump it in our lap, and let us haul it away.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.