Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Miami, Florida

Miami has riding weather twelve months a year and some of the busiest roads in Florida. When a car turns left across a rider on US-1 or drifts into a lane on the Palmetto, the rider absorbs the impact with their body. Florida Injury Team connects injured motorcyclists in Miami-Dade County with an independent Florida law firm that handles motorcycle injury claims. The consultation is free, and there are no fees unless the firm wins.

Where motorcycle crashes happen in Miami-Dade

• US-1 (South Dixie Highway) through Coral Gables, South Miami and Kendall, where left turns across traffic are the classic motorcycle crash
• Biscayne Boulevard and the downtown grid, with constant lane changes and drivers pulling out of parking
• The Rickenbacker Causeway to Key Biscayne, popular with riders on weekends
• Krome Avenue (SR 997) on the western edge of the county, a two-lane road with high speeds and few shoulders
• I-95, SR 826 and SR 836, where high-speed sideswipes and rear-end crashes happen at merges and interchanges
• Calle Ocho and Little Havana, dense streets where drivers often say they “never saw” the motorcycle

What Florida law means for riders

• No-fault PIP does not cover motorcycles. Car drivers in Florida use their own personal injury protection for the first $10,000 of medical bills. Riders cannot. Your medical bills go to your health insurance, your MedPay if you bought it, and ultimately to the at-fault driver’s liability coverage.
• Florida does not require car drivers to carry bodily injury liability insurance. Many do not. The combination of no PIP for riders and no mandatory BI coverage for drivers means the person who hit you may have nothing to pay your claim with. Your own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage becomes the most important policy in the case.
• Helmets. Under Florida Statute 316.211, riders 21 and older with at least $10,000 in medical benefits coverage may ride without a helmet. That is legal, but if you suffered a head injury the insurer will argue that the lack of a helmet contributed to it.
• Modified comparative negligence. You recover only if you were 50% or less at fault, with the award reduced by your share. Insurers use the helmet argument and assumptions about speed to push a rider over that line.
• Two-year deadline for negligence claims from crashes on or after March 24, 2023.

What to do in the first days after the crash

1. Get medical care. Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital is the Level I trauma center serving Miami-Dade. Head, spine and internal injuries are common in motorcycle crashes and can take days to show symptoms.
2. Get the crash report from Florida Highway Patrol Troop E, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office or the City of Miami Police, depending on where the crash happened. Reports are available through the FLHSMV Crash Portal.
3. Do not repair or sell the motorcycle, and keep your helmet, jacket and gear. They are physical evidence of the impact.
4. Find witnesses and video. Many intersections and businesses in Miami have cameras, and footage is overwritten within days.
5. Check your own policy for UM/UIM coverage before you talk to anyone’s insurer, and do not give a recorded statement.
6. Stay off social media about the crash or your recovery. Insurers look.

Who can be held responsible

• The driver who turned, merged or opened a door into your path
• That driver’s employer, if they were working at the time
• The owner of the vehicle, under Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine, when someone else was driving it with permission
• A manufacturer, when a defective tire, brake or helmet contributed to the injury
• A government entity responsible for a road defect, which involves special notice rules and deadlines
• Your own UM/UIM insurer, when the at-fault driver has little or no coverage

Where a Miami motorcycle case is handled

Lawsuits from crashes in Miami-Dade are filed in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, 73 West Flagler Street. Motorcycle cases often turn on reconstruction of the crash, because the insurer’s first move is to argue the rider was speeding or weaving. Skid marks, damage patterns, witness statements and video are what counter that.

How the referral works

Florida Injury Team is not a law firm. When you call, we take the basic facts and connect you with an independent, licensed Florida law firm with experience in motorcycle injury claims. The firm reviews your case for free. If it takes the case, it works on contingency: no fees unless it wins. Before you hire any lawyer, you can ask that lawyer for written information about their qualifications and experience.