Car Accident Lawyer in Miami

Miami sits at the intersection of three of the most-traveled highways in the southeastern United States: I-95, the Florida Turnpike, and the Palmetto Expressway. Add in the Dolphin and Don Shula expressways, congested surface streets in Brickell and Downtown, year-round tourist traffic, and South Florida's persistent rain, and it is no surprise that Miami-Dade County reports tens of thousands of crashes every year. If you have been seriously hurt in one of them, you need a Miami car accident lawyer who understands Florida's no-fault system and knows when you have the right to step outside it and sue the at-fault driver directly.

Florida's No-Fault Insurance System

Florida is one of a handful of states that follows a "no-fault" auto insurance model. Every vehicle registered in Florida must carry at least $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and $10,000 in Property Damage Liability (PDL) coverage. After a crash, your own PIP policy pays 80% of your reasonable and necessary medical bills and 60% of lost wages, regardless of who caused the accident, up to the $10,000 limit. There is one critical catch: to receive PIP medical benefits, you must seek treatment from a licensed provider within 14 days of the accident. Miss that deadline and you forfeit the coverage entirely.

PIP is rarely enough. A single ambulance ride and an MRI can exhaust the $10,000 limit before you have seen an orthopedic specialist. When your damages exceed PIP, Florida law allows you to step outside the no-fault system and bring a liability claim against the at-fault driver — but only if you meet the "serious injury threshold" in Florida Statute § 627.737. That means you must show a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.

Statute of Limitations

In March 2023, Florida shortened the statute of limitations for negligence claims from four years to two years. For a Miami car accident that occurred on or after March 24, 2023, you generally have only two years from the date of the crash to file suit against the at-fault driver. Wrongful-death actions arising out of a crash also follow a two-year deadline under Florida Statute § 95.11(4). If a government vehicle was involved — a Miami-Dade Transit bus, a city sanitation truck, a police cruiser — you are also subject to a separate three-year pre-suit notice requirement under Florida's sovereign immunity statute, § 768.28, and damages against the government are capped.

Comparative Negligence in Florida

Florida used to be a "pure comparative negligence" state — even a plaintiff who was 90% at fault could still recover 10% of their damages. That changed in 2023. Florida is now a "modified comparative negligence" state with a 51% bar: if a jury finds you more than 50% responsible for the crash, you recover nothing. Insurance defense lawyers know about this change and use it aggressively, particularly in intersection collisions, lane-change cases, and rear-end crashes where the lead driver braked unexpectedly. An experienced car accident lawyer will work to anchor liability on the other driver from the very first witness statement.

What to Do After a Miami Car Accident

If you can do so safely, take the following steps at the scene and in the days that follow:

• Call 911 and request both police and EMS, even if you think your injuries are minor
• Get the driver's name, license, registration, and insurance information — and the same for any witnesses
• Photograph all vehicles, the position of the cars in the roadway, skid marks, traffic signals, and any visible injuries
• See a doctor within 14 days to preserve your PIP benefits
• Do not give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurance company before speaking with a lawyer
• Keep every receipt, prescription, and out-of-pocket expense related to your treatment

How We Handle Miami Car Accident Cases

Our firm handles each Miami car accident case from initial investigation through trial if necessary. We obtain the Florida Traffic Crash Report, secure event-data-recorder downloads from late-model vehicles, request video from nearby businesses and traffic cameras, and engage accident reconstruction experts when liability is contested. We coordinate with your treating physicians to make sure the medical record accurately reflects the severity of your injuries — that record is the single biggest driver of settlement value. And we prepare every case as if it will be tried, because that is the only posture that produces full-value settlement offers from major insurance carriers.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident anywhere in Miami-Dade, Broward, or Monroe County, the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here to help. We take car accident cases on a contingency basis — there is no fee unless we recover money for you. Call 786-522-1411 or email [email protected] to set up a free consultation.