Bicycle injuries can vary widely based on the nature of the accident, ranging from fractures to catastrophic injuries with significant life-changing consequences. To ensure one gets just compensation for damages sustained as a result of the negligence of others in these circumstances, they should seek the services of a Personal Injury attorney experienced in bicycle accident cases in order to navigate complex bicycle laws in the state of Florida.
Anyone who has suffered an injury on a bicycle because of another party’s negligence can file a claim.
Under Florida’s comparative negligence law, i.e., Fla. Statute §768.81, each person who is found to be at fault is assigned a percentage. This means an individual can still collect financial compensation for the percentage of fault attributed to the other person.
Under Fla. Statute §95.11, injured parties must file personal injury lawsuits within four years of the date of the injury. Wrongful death lawsuits involving pedestrian injuries must be filed within two years. If the accident involves a state, county, or government agency, the statute of limitations can be shorter than four years. All statutes are subject to change, and exceptions may exist depending on your specific case. In addition, it takes time to investigate and then file a lawsuit. Evidence starts to disappear within hours of the crash (tire marks, debris, video surveillance). It is important to get representation quickly.
Bicycle injury claims can range from a few months to much longer. It depends on a number of factors.
Again, it is recommended to hire an attorney experienced in the type of case in which one is involved.
Bicycle accident injury cases are handled like most Personal Injury matters and that is on a contingency fee basis. This means clients do not pay the attorney anything unless and until a financial compensation is recovered.
As for Bicycle helmets, per statistics, they can reduce the risk of serious head injury by about 50%. Annually, helmets tend to prevent hundreds of bicyclist deaths. Wearing a helmet is the best way to protect oneself from potential injuries while biking in Florida. Bicycle riders over the age of 16, however, do not legally have to wear helmets in the state of Florida. Learning the municipal laws, codes or ordinanes in a particular city can help a rider remain on the right side of the law.
According to bikehike.org, most states, including Florida, do not have universal laws requiring all bicyclists to wear helmets. Instead, Florida has a law that only requires riders under the age of 16 to wear them. Cyclists who are 16 and older are free to ride without helmets, unless their cities passed specific laws stating otherwise.
Electric bicycles have grown more popular in recent years. To lawfully use an electric bicycle in the state of Florida, the rider must be older than 16 years of age. However, operators or riders do not need to wear helmets to operate electric bikes. It is also not necessary to wear a helmet while riding on a scooter or moped unless the rider is a minor under the age of 16. One can even operate a motorcycle without wearing a helmet as well in the state of Florida, if operator is over 21 years of age and has at least $10,000 in personal injury protection motorcycle insurance.
Since wearing a helmet while biking is not a legal requirement in Florida over the age of 16, it is uncommon for this to serve as a plausible defense in an injury claim. Florida Statute Section 316.2065(18) specifically states that the failure to wear a helmet, or the failure of a parent to make a child wear a helmet, may not serve as evidence of negligence or contributory negligence. Consequently, bicyclists have specific protections against this defense
The courts in Florida will not base a personal injury decision on whether the bicyclist was wearing a helmet. It may be different, however, if rider is in a state that does require helmets. If the bicyclist broke the law by not wearing a helmet, this could be a potential defense to an injury claim. The defense could argue that by breaking the law, the bicyclist placed him or herself in a position to suffer the injuries in question.
If a rider is over the age of 16 and not wearing a helmet during your bicycle accident, the defense cannot use this fact against them, even if they are pursuing damages for a head or brain injury. Since they did not break the law, they were not negligent in deciding to go helmetless. Florida is, however, a pure comparative negligence state. The defendant may try to argue the plaintiff’s-victim’s comparative fault for reasons other than not wearing a helmet to reduce the value of the claim.
Pedestrians and bicyclists are covered under Florida’s PIP insurance law if a motorist hits them. If the victim or a household family member have PIP insurance for a vehicle, said victim should be covered under that policy. If the victim does not own a vehicle, they will be covered by the PIP insurance of the driver who hit them.
If a family member is injured by a motor vehicle while walking or bicycling, they have several options to collect payment for the injuries sustained under Florida PIP law.
Florida requires that every registered driver in the state must carry at least $10,000 in personal injury protection, or PIP benefits. According to Florida Statute Section 627.736, insurance policies must pay PIP benefits for anyone, including bicyclists and pedestrians, hit by a motor vehicle as long as they are not an occupant of a self-propelled vehicle.
PIP covers medical expenses which result from an accident and also provides benefits for lost wages, death benefits, and disability. 80% of actual expenses for medical treatment, hospitalization, transport, and medical tests are covered up to $10,000 maximum, so long as treatment is received within 14 days of the accident. If treatment is not considered an Emergency Medical Condition (EMC), the limitation on coverage is only $2,500. An EMC is defined as any injury, which, if left untreated, would reasonably be expected to cause serious jeopardy to the person’s health, serious impairment of any bodily function, or serious dysfunction of a body part or organ.
Disability benefits consist of 60% of the injured party’s lost wages if they are unable to work (up to a limit of $10,000), including payment for someone to assist with daily activities such as yard work and household chores that the subject injured party cannot complete. Additionally, death benefits can be paid up to $5,000 to the next of kin if the injured party passes away.
Personal Injury Protection coverage is meant to cover relatively minor accidents, but if medical expenses and lost wages exceed $10,000, an injured victim may sue the at-fault driver for the amount of damages greater than the $10,000 PIP limit. Said injured party may also sue the at-fault driver for non-economic issues such as pain and suffering.
To discuss this area more specifically since many victims and their family find the Florida No-Fault Law as unfair, the following issues will be addressed. If hit by a car a victim is entitled to have their medical bills paid by their own auto insurance, even if the accident was not their fault. Their auto insurance applies, even though your own car was not involved. This medical bill coverage under their auto insurance is called “Personal Injury Protection” or “PIP” or “No Fault Benefits”. This coverage is “primary” for one’s medical bills, meaning auto insurance is the first insurer who is supposed to pay the said medical bills.
Many bicyclists ask if the foregoing is unfair. They also ask, “Why should MY insurance have to pay my medical bills, when I did nothing wrong?” They finally add, “Will my auto insurance cancel me or raise my rates?” Florida car owners have paid money to their auto insurance carriers called “premiums” for this exact type of insurance coverage under their policy. In Florida, it is mandatory that all automobile insurance policies provide these “PIP” benefits. It must be understood that the automobile insurance carrier for the vehicle or driver causing the accident does not have to pay these medical bills at first considering the legal list of priorities regarding insurance coverage.
There is a redeeming feature to all this in that the victim’s or their household’sauto insurance cannot cancel or raise one’s rates merely because they were involved in an accident that was not their fault.
In Florida, medical bills from a bicycle crash (when in a collision with a car) will not be 100% covered. Auto insurance will generally pay 80% of all reasonable medical bills, unless the policyholder has purchased extraordinary (and not basic) coverage. The maximum payments for all medical bills for a single accident are $10,000. Once auto insurance has paid $10,000 in PIP benefits (with basic coverage), the benefits are “exhausted”.
After the foregoing, then the remaining bills should be submitted to one’s health insurance, if any. In the beginning after a bicycle accident, the victim’s auto insurance is “primary” insurance, and their health insurance is the “secondary” insurer. On a given bill, automobile insurance PIP benefits will pay 80% and then health insurance can pay the balance due on the bill. Once PIP insurance has reached its limit of benefits, then the health insurance becomes the primary insurer. The said victim can still seek compensation from the at-fault driver, vehicle owner, or their auto insurers for the medical expenses incurred as a result of the subject accident.
To ensure proper payment of medical bills-it is critically important that medical bills are submitted to the insurers as soon as possible. Some auto and health insurance companies decline to pay medical bills if they are not submitted in a timely manner. When one goes to the hospital or doctor, request they submit the medical bills to auto insurance, if applicable, and then to health insurance, if it exists, on every claim, from the start. Further, keep track of how medical bills are being submitted and being considered by the insurers. Many auto insurers and health insurers give their customers on-line access to the claims submitted. By going on-line, injured party can check to make sure the insurer received the bills and see how much was paid and why.
If the victim does not own a car and does not reside with a family member or relative who owns a motor vehicle with insurance, then they are still entitled to “PIP” or “No Fault” benefits under an auto insurance policy. The victim can then get these benefits to pay the medical bills from the owner of the at-fault car’s auto insurance. The victim is entitled to these PIP benefits whether the accident was their fault, the other driver’s fault, the fault of both, and/or no one’s fault. They are entitled to have 80% of each reasonable medical bills paid up to $10,000 maximum benefits.
Florida Courts have not agreed on whether the bicycle rider is entitled to PIP benefits if they swerve to avoid impact and then get injured without the opposing vehicle striking them. The Florida law on PIP benefit says all auto insurance policies must provide personal injury protection when the policy holder is struck by a motor vehicle and suffers injury. Certain Florida Courts have interpreted this law to include PIP coverage where the bicyclist crashed to evade being struck by the opposing vehicle. This is a fair result. It would be unfair for bicyclists to be covered who were hit by a car, when other bicyclists, who likely minimized their injuries by avoiding a collision, were not covered.
The foregoing is just a brief and general overview of the subject of bicycle accidents in Florida.
If you have any additional Questions regarding the foregoing or have any legal issue or concern, please contact the law firm of CASERTA & SPIRITI in Miami Lakes, Florida.