Florida Car Accident Laws
If you’re in a crash on the I-4 or in the traffic of one of Florida's major cities, you’ll need to know Florida’s car accident laws to file a report or claim damages.
Written by Cameron Thiessen
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
If you’re in a car accident in
Florida
, you must immediately call the police to report any crash that results in injury to a person or appears to have caused $500 or more of property damage. Failure to report these accidents immediately can result in a non-moving violation.There’s no easy way to say it: car accidents suck. There are few worse feelings than looking at the aftermath of a crash as you file an accident report. But it’s important to know that if you do end up crashing your beloved Honda on the streets of Florida, an immediate police report is probably required of you.
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4.7/5 rating on the App Store | Trusted by 5+ million customers and 7 million cars4.7/5 app rating | Trusted by 5M+ driversWhat to do after a crash: Florida car accident reporting laws
The first thing you should do
after you've been in an accident
is check to make sure everyone involved is safe. Move to a safe location as best as you can. After that, check if anyone has any injuries. If anyone was hurt, you definitely need to file an immediate police report, and even if there was minor damage, the resulting cost may also warrant an immediate report. Otherwise, you can complete the necessary forms online.Document as much information around the accident as you can, including taking pictures if you’re able, and don’t forget to exchange insurance info with the other party/parties involved.
Florida law requires that all drivers stop at the scene of an accident to help anyone who was injured, so you should stop even if you only witness an accident but weren’t involved in it.
Then what? If you’re in Florida, you may need to report the accident three separate times:
- To the police
- To the DMV
- To your insurance company
Here’s some more detail on how accident reports work in Florida.
When to report an accident to the police
If you’re involved in an accident, that accident probably needs to be reported to the police immediately after ensuring that everyone involved is safe. Immediate reporting is usually required, but not always. Regardless, you must report every accident. The details can be found in
Chapter 316 Section 065
of the Florida Statutes:- If you’re in a specific city, report the accident to local police by the quickest means. Otherwise, report to the office of the county sheriff or the nearest Florida Highway Patrol station.
- If the crash resulted in injury to or death of any persons involved, you must report the accident immediately.
- If the accident resulted in at least $500 of apparent vehicle or property damage, you must report the accident immediately.
Naturally, if police are already at the scene, they can be expected assist in the reporting process
When to report an accident to the DMV
In addition to filing a police report, Florida Law requires you to file a report with the DMV within 10 days of any accident reported to the police
You can fill out a crash report on the
FLHSMV website
. Be prepared to give the following information:- Place and time the accident happened
- Names, addresses, and birthdays of all parties involved
- License information (including plate numbers and states) of all drivers involved
- Names and addresses of all policyholders and their insurers
- Names and addresses of all registered vehicle owners of vehicles involved
You’ll also be asked to fill out an accident diagram form, which will attempt to get your best recollection of the events leading up to and following the accident from your perspective. Part of this will involve sketching a bird’s-eye view of the scene.
Financial responsibility and coverage minimums: Florida’s insurance laws
In case you haven’t already noticed by now, you’re expected by law to have your
vehicle insured in Florida.
Every state except New Hampshire requires that drivers purchase a minimum amount of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and Property Damage Liability (PDL) insurance.You need at least $10,000 in both PIP and PDL, and even if your registered vehicle is inoperable, a registered vehicle must have continuous coverage.
If you don’t keep your registered car insured, you could have your driving privilege and license plate suspended for up to three years, and you will not even be able to apply for a temporary or hardship license for this type of suspension. You’ll have to pay a reinstatement fee of up to $500 to
get your license back
after the suspension period.Despite the penalties that could occur, recent data shows that Florida has the highest rate of uninsured motorists—1 in every 4 drivers in Florida are uninsured.
Even if you’re one of the good three, there’s still about a 27% chance that a driver you get in an accident with is uninsured, and recouping costs from an uninsured driver can be a serious hassle. This is why
uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
is great to have in Florida, despite it not being legally required by the state.Claiming damages after an accident: Florida’s personal injury laws
In some cases, a person involved in an accident might feel that the insurance settlement has not provided adequate compensation. In this case you’d need to file a personal injury lawsuit. This gets sticky in Florida because it is a no-fault car insurance state; you would be filing your injury claim through your own insurance.
Most of the time you’ll have a limit of four years from the date of the crash to start your case in the court system.
Florida uses a “comparative negligence” system. If another driver was entirely at fault, their insurance will cover compensation, but in any case where both parties were partly at fault, you will only be entitled to a relative portion of total damages.
For example, if you were determined by a jury to be 30% responsible for the accident, and your total damages were found to be $120,000, you’d be entitled to 70% of that ($84,000) in compensation from the other party.
Damage Caps in Florida Injury Cases
A damage cap limits the amount of money an insured person can receive in compensation for losses.
The only damage cap law in Florida pertains to punitive damages, limited to three times the amount of compensatory damages, or $500,000, whichever is higher. These types of damages are rare and are intended as a punishment for a particularly awful crime.
How to save money on car insurance in Florida
If you’ve ended up in a car accident, you'll likely pay more for
Florida car insurance
, but the Jerry app remains the easiest way to find the cheapest insurance you can. As a licensed broker
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“I had limited time to find a new insurance plan in Florida, so I triedJerry. My experience was personalized and professional, and they found me a plan that fits my portfolio. You should give them a try.” —Valencia T.
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