Florida Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Why Are Bicycle Accident Injuries So Serious?

A cyclist hit by a car at 35 miles per hour absorbs the full force of that impact with nothing between their body and the vehicle. Even crashes that look minor on a police report can produce injuries that change a person’s life permanently.

What Head Injuries Occur in Bicycle Accidents?

Traumatic brain injuries are the leading cause of death and permanent disability in bicycle crashes. Even with a helmet, a high-speed impact can produce concussions, skull fractures, and diffuse axonal injuries, damage to nerve fibers throughout the brain that disrupts memory, cognition, and personality. 

Florida does not require adult cyclists to wear helmets, but helmet use or non-use affects both injury severity and, in some cases, how insurance companies evaluate claims.

What Orthopedic Injuries Are Common in Bicycle Crashes?

Fractures are extremely common in bicycle accidents, collarbone, wrist, arm, hip, and leg fractures frequently result from the impact of a crash or from a cyclist’s instinctive attempt to break a fall. Pelvic fractures and spinal injuries, including herniated discs and vertebral fractures, are also documented frequently in serious bicycle crashes. Many of these injuries require surgery, extended rehabilitation, and produce lasting limitations on mobility and daily activity.

What Is Road Rash, and Why Does It Matter Legally?

Road rash, the skin abrasion that results when a cyclist’s body slides across pavement, ranges from minor scraping to deep wounds requiring skin grafts and multiple surgical procedures. Severe road rash can produce permanent scarring and disfigurement, which are compensable damages under Florida law. The extent and permanence of road rash injuries are often underestimated in early insurance evaluations.

Hurt in a bicycle crash? Call Boohoff Law before you speak with the insurance company: (877) 999-9999

Our Florida Location

Boohoff Law, P.A. — Auto Accident Lawyers

829 W Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Tampa, FL 33603

Phone: (813) 725-5606

What Causes Most Bicycle Accidents in Florida?

Most serious bicycle accidents in Florida are caused by driver error, not cyclist error, despite what insurance adjusters often argue. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the majority of bicycle crashes involving motor vehicles are attributed to driver failures, including failure to yield and distracted driving.

What Is a Dooring Accident?

A dooring accident occurs when a driver or passenger in a parked vehicle opens a car door directly into a cyclist’s path without checking for approaching riders. The cyclist has no time to react and strikes the door at speed, often being thrown into traffic. Florida law requires vehicle occupants to check for approaching cyclists before opening doors. When they fail to do so, the occupant, and potentially the vehicle owner, bears liability for the resulting crash.

How Do Intersection Crashes Happen to Cyclists?

Intersection crashes are the most common type of serious bicycle accident in Florida. Drivers turning left or right across a bike lane, running red lights, failing to yield at stop signs, and making right hooks, cutting across a cyclist’s path while turning right, are recurring patterns. 

These crashes frequently happen because drivers simply do not look for cyclists when scanning intersections. Failure to look is a failure of the legal duty to observe.

What Role Does Distracted Driving Play in Bicycle Accidents?

A driver looking at a phone for five seconds at 40 miles per hour travels the length of a football field without watching the road. At that time, a cyclist in a bike lane can move directly into the driver’s path. Distracted driving is a significant factor in Florida bicycle crashes, and cell phone records can be formally obtained through the legal process to establish what a driver was doing in the moments before impact.

If driver error caused your crash, call Boohoff Law: (877) 999-9999

Who Pays When a Car Hits a Cyclist in Florida?

Florida’s no-fault insurance system applies differently to cyclists than most people assume. Drivers must carry Personal Injury Protection coverage, known as PIP, but the way PIP interacts with bicycle accident claims involves specific rules that an attorney can help you navigate.

Can a Cyclist Use the Driver’s PIP Coverage?

Yes, under specific circumstances. When a cyclist is struck by a motor vehicle, the cyclist can use the at-fault driver’s PIP coverage if the cyclist does not have their own auto insurance policy that includes PIP. If the cyclist does have an auto insurance policy, even if they were not driving at the time of the crash, their own PIP applies first. This means that many cyclists have access to PIP benefits they may not know about.

What Happens If the Driver Who Hit Me Had No Insurance?

Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage, the type of insurance that pays for injuries they cause to others. If the driver who struck you has no bodily injury coverage, your own uninsured motorist coverage, if you carry it on an auto policy, can cover your injuries. A bicycle accident attorney reviews all available coverage sources to identify every option, including coverage from household members’ auto policies in some circumstances.

When Does the Serious Injury Threshold Apply to Cyclists?

Cyclists who suffer fractures, permanent scarring, or traumatic brain injuries typically meet Florida’s serious injury threshold, the legal standard that allows a full claim against the at-fault driver for damages beyond what PIP covers, including pain and suffering. Because bicycle crashes so often produce injuries of this severity, most clients who come to us after being struck by a car meet this threshold.

Questions about insurance coverage after a bicycle crash? Call us: (877) 999-9999

What Compensation Can an Injured Cyclist Recover in Florida?

What Economic Damages Are Available?

Economic damages are the financial losses that can be documented. For injured cyclists, these include emergency medical care, hospitalization, surgery, physical and occupational therapy, future medical treatment for permanent injuries, prescription costs, lost income during recovery, and long-term loss of earning capacity if the injuries affect the cyclist’s ability to work. Bicycle replacement or repair is also recoverable.

What Non-Economic Damages Can Cyclists Pursue?

Florida law allows injured cyclists to seek compensation for physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent disability, disfigurement from scarring, and loss of the ability to participate in activities the cyclist enjoyed before the crash. For serious crashes, these damages can be substantial, particularly in cases involving permanent injuries, amputations, or traumatic brain injuries that alter a person’s daily life.

What If the At-Fault Driver Left the Scene?

Your own uninsured motorist coverage can pay your damages even when the driver who struck you fled the scene. Hit-and-run crashes involving cyclists are alarmingly common in Florida, but they do not have to mean an uncompensated injury. Identifying a hit-and-run driver is also possible through traffic cameras, witness accounts, and nearby surveillance footage. An attorney pursues both the driver’s identification and the available insurance coverage simultaneously.

Ready to understand what your bicycle accident claim may be worth? Call Boohoff Law: (877) 999-9999

How Boohoff Law Handles Florida Bicycle Accident Cases

We build bicycle accident cases the same way we build serious injury cases, because that is what they are. We investigate the crash scene, obtain the police report and any available camera footage, identify all available insurance coverage, and pursue every source of compensation your injuries warrant.

Bicycle accident claims involve specific legal issues that general personal injury attorneys sometimes miss: the application of PIP to non-drivers, the three-foot passing law, Florida’s cyclist rights statutes, and the way insurance companies undervalue these claims. We know these issues because we handle these cases.

Our Tampa bicycle accident attorneys and our broader Florida team work on contingency — no fees unless we recover compensation for you. The consultation is free.

Call (877) 999-9999 or contact us online to speak with a Florida bicycle accident lawyer today.

Frequently Asked Questions: Florida Bicycle Accident Claims

Does Florida require cyclists to wear helmets, and does it affect a claim?

Florida law requires cyclists under 16 to wear an approved bicycle helmet. Adult cyclists are not required by state law to wear a helmet. If you were riding without a helmet as an adult and suffered a head injury, the at-fault driver’s insurer may argue that your decision contributed to the severity of your head injuries, a comparative negligence argument that affects only head injury damages. All other damages remain fully recoverable regardless of helmet use.

What if a child was injured in a Florida bicycle accident?

When a minor is injured in a bicycle accident, Florida’s statute of limitations, the legal deadline to file a lawsuit, is typically tolled, meaning paused, until the child turns 18. Parents or guardians can file a claim on the child’s behalf, and any settlement requires court approval to ensure the child’s interests are protected. An attorney guides families through this distinct process.

How long do I have to file a bicycle accident claim in Florida?

Florida’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is two years from the date of the accident. For wrongful death claims, the same two-year period applies from the date of death. If a government entity bears responsibility for the crash due to a road defect, the deadline to provide formal notice of a claim is significantly shorter than two years. An attorney can identify every applicable deadline specific to your case.

What if the crash happened because of a road defect, not a driver?

Potholes, missing lane markings, defective bike lane designs, and debris left on roadways can all cause serious bicycle accidents. When a road defect is responsible, liability may fall on the city, county, or state agency responsible for maintaining that road. 

Claims against government entities follow different procedural rules, including shorter notice deadlines and caps on certain damages, than claims against private individuals. These cases require specific legal handling from the start.

Can I file a claim if I was partly at fault for the bicycle accident?

Yes, as long as your share of fault does not exceed 50%. Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault in the crash. If you were found 20% at fault and your total damages are $100,000, you recover $80,000. 

Insurance companies routinely overstate a cyclist’s fault to reduce what they owe. An attorney can challenge those assignments with the evidence from the crash.

Talk to a Florida Bicycle Accident Lawyer at Boohoff Law

Florida’s roads are among the most dangerous in the country for cyclists. When a driver’s negligence puts you in the hospital, you deserve representation that understands bicycle accident law specifically, not just personal injury law in general.

Boohoff Law represents injured cyclists across Florida from offices in Tampa, Brandon, and North Port. Our Tampa personal injury team works on contingency. You pay nothing unless we recover.

Call (877) 999-9999 or contact us online to speak with a Florida bicycle accident lawyer today.