Navigating the Aftermath of Car Accidents in Broward County

What Are Your Rights if You’re Injured in a Broward County Traffic Accident?

It may not be easy to prove which motorist is at fault for a traffic crash, but if you’re injured in a South Florida accident, and you need to recover compensation, proving who’s at fault is what’s required. You’ll need the advice and services of a Broward County personal injury lawyer.

It’s not difficult to get injured in a traffic crash in South Florida. The state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles tells us that more than 390,000 traffic accidents were reported in this state in 2023. More than 250,000 injuries were reported, along with 3,419 deaths.

How are traffic accidents handled in the State of Florida? How do “no-fault” and “PIP” insurance work? What is Florida’s fourteen-day rule? And when will you need the advice and services of a Broward County car accident attorney?

How Does Auto Insurance Work in Florida?

Florida is a no-fault auto insurance state. Motorists must carry PIP (personal injury protection) insurance coverage. If you’re injured in an accident, PIP coverage pays for your medical expenses and partially reimburses you for lost wages, no matter who caused the accident.

But if your damages exceed $10,000, and if the other driver’s negligence caused your injury, you may be allowed to seek additional compensation with a personal injury lawsuit, but you must have the help that a Broward County personal injury lawyer will provide.

Florida law sets a medical threshold for injuries sustained in traffic accidents. Injured accident victims may bring a personal injury claim after a Florida traffic crash only if they suffer:

1. a significant and permanent disability, and/or
2. significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, and/or
3. the loss of a significant bodily function

What is Florida’s Fourteen-Day Rule?

After a traffic accident in Florida, if you do not submit to a medical exam within fourteen days, your car insurance company may not compensate you and may reject any injury claim you submit.

Quick medical attention is imperative after any traffic accident. Even if you feel perfectly healthy, you will need a medical examination after a traffic accident for the following reasons:

1. If you’ve sustained a latent or difficult-to-detect injury in a traffic crash, it needs to be identified and treated before it develops into a more serious medical condition.
2. If you’ve suffered a personal injury, a medical examination creates the medical records you’ll need if you subsequently file a personal injury claim.
3. If you don’t seek medical help immediately, an insurance company can claim that you weren’t injured very seriously, and your personal injury claim may be rejected.
4. Florida’s fourteen-day rule may prevent you from recovering compensation if you don’t obtain a medical examination within the fourteen-day period.

What Auto Insurance Does Florida Require?

Under Florida law, motorists in this state must have two types of auto insurance coverage:

1. at least $10,000 of property damage liability (PDL) coverage
2. at least $10,000 of personal injury protection (PIP) coverage

When a Florida motorist is injured in a traffic collision, the first $10,000 of damages – medical bills and lost earnings – are supposed to be paid for by the victim’s own PIP insurance, without regard to which driver was at-fault.

If your damages eventually exceed $10,000, and if you did not have a medical examination within fourteen days of the accident, you may have no legal recourse, and you may have to cover your additional damages on your own.

What Do Injured Policyholders Really Receive?

Although PIP insurance supposedly provides $10,000 of coverage, you may be limited to only $2,500 unless you can prove that you are dealing with what Florida law calls an emergency medical condition or EMC.

An EMC is a condition that may be reasonably expected to cause serious or permanent dysfunction of at least one body part or organ unless immediate medical care is provided. You are entitled to 80 percent of your reasonable medical costs up to $10,000 only if:

1.  You have complied with the fourteen-day rule, and
2.  A doctor or advanced registered nurse practitioner has diagnosed you with an EMC.

When Are You Allowed to Bring a Personal Injury Claim?

If you have sustained a catastrophic spinal cord injury, a severe traumatic brain injury, or another long-term or disabling injury in a South Florida traffic collision, you will need considerably more compensation than your PIP coverage will provide.

But with so many confusing rules in the law, if you’re seeking compensation, how can you know what steps to take – and when to take them? If you’re injured, you’ll need the services and advice of a Broward County car accident attorney as quickly as possible after an accident.

Your initial legal consultation and case evaluation will not cost you anything or entail any obligation. A South Florida attorney will explain how the law applies to your case and recommend the best way to proceed – which may be filing a personal injury claim.

What Can You Recover With a Personal Injury Claim?

If you and your attorney prevail with a personal injury action, you could recover compensation for all of your current and future medical costs, your lost income and future lost earning capacity, your personal pain and suffering, and your other damages and losses.

Most injury cases in Florida are resolved when the lawyers for both sides reach an agreement in private negotiations. However, if an out-of-court settlement isn’t possible, your attorney will take your case to trial and will use every necessary legal tool to recover the compensation you need.

Take Your Personal Injury Case to Bozanic Law

If you’re injured in South Florida by a negligent driver in Broward County, attorney Zeljka Bozanic at Bozanic Law will fight tirelessly and effectively for the compensation – and for the justice – you need and deserve.

Based in Weston, Bozanic Law is a Broward County law firm with a reputation for successfully resolving the most difficult and complicated personal injury cases. We also represent South Florida families who are seeking justice after a loved one’s death with a wrongful death claim.

If you’re injured in South Florida – currently or in the future – by a negligent driver, call Bozanic Law at 954-800-2864, and let the legal team at Bozanic Law go to work for you.