Hit by a Fire Truck in Miami

Crashes involving fire trucks in Miami-Dade County happen more often than people realize. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the City of Miami Fire-Rescue Department, and municipal fire departments in Coral Gables, Hialeah, Miami Beach, Doral, and other South Florida cities operate hundreds of apparatus across busy roadways. When a fire truck causes a crash — running a red light during an emergency response, making an unsafe turn, or rear-ending another vehicle — you have a claim under Florida law, but it is governed by special sovereign-immunity rules that do not apply to ordinary crashes.

Florida's Sovereign Immunity Statute

Florida Statute § 768.28 partially waives sovereign immunity for tort claims against state and local government entities, including fire departments and other emergency services. The waiver comes with significant conditions:

• Pre-suit notice. Before filing suit, the claimant must give written notice to the appropriate government agency and to the Florida Department of Financial Services. The agency then has up to 180 days to investigate before suit may be filed.
• Damage caps. Total damages recoverable from any single state or municipal government entity are capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. Damages above the cap can only be paid through a "claims bill" passed by the Florida Legislature — a slow and uncertain process.
• Three-year statute of limitations for sovereign-immunity claims (longer than the two-year private-defendant rule).
• No punitive damages against government entities.

Special Defenses for Emergency Vehicles

Florida Statute § 316.072(5) gives drivers of authorized emergency vehicles certain privileges when responding to emergencies — including proceeding past stop signals, exceeding speed limits when not endangering life or property, and disregarding regulations on direction of movement. But the statute also requires that the driver use lights and sirens (with limited exceptions) and that the privileges do not relieve the driver of the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons.

If a fire truck struck you while not using its emergency lights and siren, or while driving with reckless disregard for safety even during a legitimate emergency response, the statutory privileges do not insulate the operator from liability. These cases turn heavily on the factual question of whether the emergency response justified the driving conduct.

Evidence in a Fire Truck Crash Case

• The dispatch recording and CAD (computer-aided dispatch) record
• The fire truck's onboard data — speed, brake, light/siren activation
• Any in-cab and dash camera footage
• Body-worn camera footage of responding personnel
• Traffic-camera and business surveillance footage
• The driver's qualification, training, and prior-incident file
• The fire department's policies on emergency-response driving

If you have been hit by a fire truck in Miami-Dade or Broward County, contact the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin promptly — the pre-suit notice deadlines under § 768.28 require fast action. Call 786-522-1411 or email [email protected] for a free consultation.