Fort Myers
Car Accident Lawyer

Under Florida law, certain car accident scenarios require law enforcement to file a police report. They include:

• Any crashes involving bodily injury;
• Any crashes resulting in one or more fatalities;
• Any crash where a party leaves the scene of the accident;
• Any crash involving a party who has been driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol;
• Any crash that requires a wrecker to remove a vehicle from the scene of the accident:
• Any crash involving a commercial motor vehicle; or
• Any crash where property damage obviously exceeds $500.

If any of the previously listed scenarios applied to your car accident, you should have waited for police to arrive at the scene of the accident and fill out an accident report; however, you do have 10 days to report the accident before you have broken the law.

If your car accident was serious enough, it’s likely emergency response teams including local police and/or Florida Highway Patrol came to the scene of the accident to help, investigate, and complete full accident report. Yet, for whatever reason, situations do occur where you might not have the opportunity to immediately file a report with law enforcement. In these cases, you can self-report online or by mail to the Crash Records Department in Tallahassee, or contact your local FHP Troop Station. When you self-report you need to fill out a “Driver Report of Traffic Crash“ form to submit online. You can also self-report minor accidents to ensure you have a record of the event; even minor accidents can cause injury.

How Can I Obtain a Copy of the Crash Report Detailing My Car Accident?

Any driver or passenger involved in a Florida car accident has the legal right to obtain a copy of the final crash report. In Florida, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles maintains copies of the crash report. It can take up to 10 days before your report is completed and copies are available to you. You can request your copy online, in person, or via snail mail.

• Online. If you visit the Florida Crash Portal online, you can request a copy of your crash report for $10 plus a $2 per transaction convenience fee. After you complete your purchase, your report will be immediately available for download, which you must complete within 48 hours.
• In person. If you want to obtain a copy of your crash report in person, you can visit the Florida Highway Patrol troop station closest to the scene of the accident, and pay the $10 fee for up to 10 copies of the report.
• Snail mail. You can request individual records by snail mail, but this option is typically for more than 10 records. Also, it will take at least a month to receive your record when you use snail mail. You have to send a sworn statement for each report and a check or money order for the total amount of reports to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Crash Records, 2900 Apalachee Parkway, MS 28, Tallahassee, FL 32399.

If you were in a severe car accident, you likely were transported to the nearest emergency department via ambulance soon after the crash. Yet, you might have been fortunate enough to walk away from the accident or you were involved in a minor accident. In the event you refused medical treatment at the scene of the accident and haven’t visited a doctor since your accident, you need to get checked out as soon as possible.

After a car accident, your health and safety should be top priority. Some common car accident injuries such as traumatic brain injuries and whiplash don’t show symptoms for days after an accident. Yet, with a thorough medical examination, a doctor might be able to diagnose these injuries sooner. If you avoid medical treatment, you risk causing more damage. In the most severe cases, avoiding treatment might even be life-threatening.

Medical documentation of your injuries is also important for insurance claims and lawsuits. Part of avoiding a claim denial or prevailing in a lawsuit includes proving your injuries were a result of the car accident, not some previous event or accident. Your medical record provides this evidence to lawyers, insurance investigators, and the court, making it difficult for any party to claim you have preexisting injuries. The doctor who examines you can also serve as a witness to speak to your prognosis and chances for recovery, if you have suffered injuries.

Florida is a no-fault insurance state that requires all who register a motor vehicle to carry a minimum of $10,000 each of property damage liability (PDL) and personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. This means when you get in a car accident, regardless of fault, you file a claim under your PIP policy, which covers a portion of medical expenses and lost wages. Although there are some exceptions, Florida PIP coverage typically covers 80 percent of medical costs and 60 percent of lost wages. Even though PIP doesn’t cover 100 percent of economic losses, $10,000 of coverage does not go very far in a severe accident.

Once you’ve exceeded your PIP limit, you are responsible for your medical costs and will have to endure a loss of income until you can return to work, unless you take further action. You can file a claim with the at-fault driver’s auto insurance carrier or file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver. For most, this is the time to involve an attorney who can handle communication and negotiations with the insurance company to fight for full and fair compensation for your accident and injuries.

If you have exceeded your PIP limits and sue the at-fault driver for damages you might receive compensation for the following damages in a settlement or a verdict in your favor:

• Cost of medical expenses beyond PIP coverage, including emergency response services, hospitalization, diagnostic imaging, followup visits, medication, and surgery
• Cost of future medical expenses when a severe injury requires extensive recovery or results in a permanent disability or conditions requiring lifelong care
• Lost wages beyond PIP coverage
• Future lost wages when a severe car accident injury prevents you from returning to your job or seeking gainful employment
• Cost of rehabilitative services such as physical therapists, occupational therapists, and any other specialists who help you regain function and learn to cope with your injuries
• Physical pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Loss of quality of life
• Loss of consortium with a spouse
• Any other non-economic damages that might apply to your case
• Punitive damages reserved for rare cases of intentional harm or gross negligence

Florida does not require you to carry uninsured motorist (UM) coverage; however, your auto insurance provider was supposed to offer it to you. If you chose to reject the coverage, you would have done it in writing. If you have been hit by an uninsured driver, you need to double check your auto insurance coverage to see if you have UM coverage. If you have purchased uninsured motorist coverage, often coupled with underinsured motorist coverage, your policy will kick in after you have exhausted your PIP policy limits.

If you have not purchased UM coverage, you will be shouldered with the financial burden of property damage to your car, medical expenses, lost wages, and all other economic losses related to your car accident. You can file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver to seek compensation for damages, but it’s unlikely you will be able to recover any money, even if the court rules in your favor. If the driver had large financial resources, it’s likely he or she would not have been uninsured. Your attorney can help you investigate your accident and look for third parties who might share liability with the uninsured driver, allowing you to recover some or all of your losses.

Once you bring suit against another driver after a car accident, the insurance company will thoroughly investigate the accident to place a value on the claim and determine liability. Insurance companies will do whatever they can to deny a claim or reduce their financial liability, especially if they know their policyholder caused the accident. Offering an early settlement to car accident injury victims is one way insurance companies try to reduce the amount they must pay out on a claim. These early offers are meant to entice you to take the money and sign away your right to sue for compensation, so they might look attractive on the surface. Yet, if you have suffered severe injuries, these offers are typically far less than you deserve and far less than potential court-awarded damages.

Accepting an early offer is your choice, but it’s almost always in your best interest to consult with a personal injury attorney before you make a decision. Consider an early offer as starting off point for negotiations. A qualified attorney can handle negotiations, causing the insurance company to take you seriously. Once a lawyer is involved, many insurance companies will quit playing the low-ball offer games. More often than not a good lawyer can negotiate a much higher settlement for you. When insurance companies don’t want to settle or pay, your attorney can advocate for you in court and litigate your case, giving you a better chance to get the compensation you deserve for your injuries.