What to Do After a Car Accident in Florida

The minutes after a crash are loud, confusing, and strangely slow. Your hands shake, traffic keeps moving around you, and a stranger is already asking whether you are okay. What you do next matters more than most people realize, both for your health and for any claim that follows. I'm David Harris, a Florida attorney with an office in Venice, and I have walked hundreds of clients through the hours and weeks after a collision. This page lays out the nine steps I give friends and family when they call me from the side of the road, along with the Florida deadlines that catch people off guard.

1. Get to safety and call 911

If the cars can move and anyone is in a travel lane, get to the shoulder or a parking lot before anything else. Secondary impacts on fast roads like the US 41 Bypass or the ramps where Jacaranda Boulevard meets I-75 are how a bad day becomes a tragedy. Then call 911, even for a crash that looks minor. Florida law requires a report to law enforcement when a crash involves injury or apparent damage, and the dispatcher will route the right agency to you. Stay at the scene. Leaving is a crime, and it also leaves the story of the crash entirely in the other driver's hands.

2. Document everything you can

Use your phone while you wait. Photograph all four corners of both vehicles, the full intersection or stretch of road, the traffic signals, any skid marks or debris, and the other car's license plate. Wide shots establish geometry; close shots establish damage. If there are witnesses, ask for their names and phone numbers before they drive off, because the officer may not capture every bystander in the report. I have rebuilt cases on Shamrock Boulevard sightlines and a single witness phone number that almost did not get collected. If you are too hurt to do any of this, do not force it. The crash report and your lawyer can fill the gaps later.

3. Exchange information, not opinions

Florida law obligates drivers in a crash to exchange names, addresses, vehicle registration numbers, and insurance information. Do that, politely, and stop there. Do not apologize, speculate about speed, or debate at the roadside. Anything you say will reach an adjuster, usually with less context than you gave it. If the other driver becomes aggressive or tries to leave, note the plate and let the police handle the rest. A driver who flees turns your case into a hit-and-run claim that runs through your own coverage, which is its own path with its own urgency.

4. Make sure a crash report gets written

When officers respond, a Florida Traffic Crash Report gets a number, and that number anchors everything that follows: the insurance claims, the PIP file, the investigation your lawyer builds. Ask the responding officer how to obtain a copy. On this side of Sarasota County your crash may be worked by city police, the Sheriff's Office, or the Florida Highway Patrol, depending on whether you were on a city street, a county road like Laurel Road, or the interstate. If police do not respond to a minor crash, Florida provides a self-report form, and you should file it. A crash with no paper trail is the hardest kind to prove months later.

5. Get medical care within fourteen days

Florida is a no-fault state. Your own coverage pays a share of your medical bills and lost wages regardless of who caused the crash, but only if you receive initial care within fourteen days. The is a coverage deadline written into the statute, not a suggestion. Adrenaline hides injuries, and neck, back, and head symptoms often surface days later. Whether you choose an emergency room, an urgent care clinic, or your own physician, get evaluated promptly and tell them about every symptom, however small it seems. I am a lawyer, not a doctor, so my advice is simple: let medical professionals decide what is minor.

6. Notify your own insurance company

Your policy requires prompt notice of a crash, and your PIP claim opens with your own carrier no matter who was at fault. Report the basic facts: time, place, vehicles involved, and the report number. Stick to what you know and skip conclusions about fault or about injuries that have not been diagnosed yet. Cooperating with your own insurer is a contract duty, but even here, short and factual beats long and speculative.

7. Be careful with the other driver's insurer

Expect a call from the at-fault driver's insurance company within days, sometimes hours. The adjuster will be friendly and will ask for a recorded statement, and you are under no obligation to give one. Recorded statements taken in the first week, while you are medicated and underslept, have a way of resurfacing word by word at the worst possible moment. Decline politely, or better, let your attorney handle every conversation with the other side. The same goes for early settlement checks: a quick offer made before your injuries are understood is priced for the insurer's benefit, not yours.

8. Keep every record

Start a folder, paper or digital, the week of the crash. Medical bills and visit summaries, pharmacy receipts, repair estimates, photographs of the vehicles, your mileage to appointments, and the days or hours of work you missed. Add a short daily note about pain and the activities you could not do; memory fades faster than cases resolve. are proven with records, and clients who keep them recover what the records support rather than what an adjuster guesses.

9. Talk to a Florida personal injury lawyer

Most crashes after March 2023 carry a two-year for claims, shortened from four years by House Bill 837, and Florida's modified Comparative Negligence rule bars recovery entirely for a driver found more than half at fault. Those two rules alone change what a case is worth and when it must move. A consultation costs nothing, and I will tell you plainly whether you need a lawyer at all. You can read more about how I handle car accident cases, including rear-end collisions, or about the communities I serve from North Port to Englewood.

If you were hurt in a crash in Venice or anywhere in Sarasota County, call me at 941-499-1400. I will listen to what happened, explain your PIP and coverage options, and give you a straight answer about what comes next. There is no fee unless you recover.

Once the first days are handled, the practical questions start. We keep plain-language answers to the three biggest: how much a car accident lawyer costs in Florida, whether a minor accident needs a lawyer, and how long you have to file a claim.