Skip to Content

Miami Car
Accident Lawyer

Written by Prosper Shaked, personal injury attorney, North Miami Beach · Updated October 14, 2026

If another driver hit you in Miami, the story of your crash is already being written without you: the other driver’s version, a police report that may have it wrong, and video and black-box data that are already on a clock. You talk to a real attorney, usually me, on that first call or later the same day.

Call (305) 694-2676 Free case review
  • You speak to the attorney, not a screener
  • No fee unless I recover money for you
  • Millions recovered for injured clients
  • Hablamos español

No fee unless I recover money for you. If there is no recovery you owe no fee and no costs. When we recover, case costs are paid from the recovery.

The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 - Prosper Shaked
Florida Justice Association member
Prosper Injury Attorneys - Recognized by Best Lawyers 2027
American Association for Justice member
Prosper Shaked on SuperLawyers - Top rated Personal Injury attorney in North Miami Beach, Florida
BBB Accredited Business A+ - Prosper Injury Attorneys

What to do after a car accident

When a car accident occurs, the first hours decide what evidence still exists. Eight things that protect your claim. Do what you safely can, and if you are reading this from a hospital bed, start with the last one.

01

Get to safety

If your car is drivable and blocking traffic, move it out of the lane. If you cannot move it, stay buckled and put your hazards on.

02

Call 911 and stay at the scene

Florida law requires that you stop and report, and leaving can be a criminal offense. Report any injuries so paramedics can be dispatched.

03

Describe what happened, but do not guess

Cooperate with police. Describe what you saw and felt, and do not speculate about speeds, fault, or what the other driver was doing.

04

Exchange information and get the report number

Leave with the other driver’s name, license number, registration and insurance details, and the assigned crash report number from the responding officer.

05

Photograph everything

Your vehicle, the other vehicle, the crash scene, the road conditions, debris, skid marks, traffic signals and any visible injuries. More is better.

06

See a doctor within 14 days

Florida PIP requires that you begin medical treatment within 14 days of the crash. Internal injuries and traumatic brain injuries can hide in the first 24 to 72 hours. Go to the ER, an urgent care, or your primary care doctor, and tell the medical professionals who see you that you were in a crash.

07

Do not give a recorded statement

Not to the at-fault carrier, and not to your own carrier without representation. Adjusters know how to ask questions that lock you into harmful descriptions.

08

Call before you call the at-fault carrier back

I can tell you on a short call whether you have a case worth pursuing.

Call (305) 694-2676

Do you have a car accident case?

Do not decide you have no case before a doctor and a lawyer have looked at it. If you can answer yes to these two questions, it is worth a call.

1

Were you in a crash involving a car, whether you were driving, riding as a passenger, walking or on a bike?

2

Were you hurt?
Not sure? Call anyway. Usually I can tell you on that one call.

Yes, call Prosper now

The consultation is free ● Available 24/7

What happens when you call

01

You talk to the attorney

Not an intake screener. You reach an attorney on that first call or later the same day, and your free initial consultation starts right there.

02

You find out where you stand

We walk through what happened, your injuries and which insurance coverage is in play: your PIP, the other driver’s policy, your own UM. Usually I can tell you on that one call whether you have a claim worth pursuing.

03

We preserve the evidence

If you hire us, the first letters go out fast, to preserve the car’s black-box data and any nearby video, which can overwrite in as little as 14 to 72 hours.

04

What we do in the first two weeks

  • Send preservation letters to everyone who may hold evidence: the other driver, a rideshare company, a business whose camera caught the crash.
  • Where the case warrants it, pay to have the car’s black-box data professionally downloaded before the vehicle is repaired, totaled or sold.
  • Take over the calls from the insurance adjusters, yours and the other driver’s, so you are not answering their questions alone.
  • Open every insurance claim that applies, and send the written request that requires the other driver’s insurer to disclose its policy limits under oath within 30 days.
  • When PIP runs out and you still need care, help you keep treating, including with specialists who treat on a letter of protection.
  • Handle your claim for the car and other personal property damaged in the crash, repairs or total loss, rental and storage, at no fee, as part of the injury case.
Call (305) 694-2676

Prosper Shaked,
Miami car accident attorney

North Miami Beach

I am Prosper Shaked, the attorney behind Prosper Injury Attorneys, my law firm in North Miami Beach. I grew up in Miami, and I handle car accident and other personal injury cases throughout Florida, including many that other firms passed on. My office works in English and Spanish, which matters in a county where a large share of households speak Spanish at home. Call (305) 694-2676, or read more about me.

What clients say about working with Prosper Injury Attorneys.

Most of the people who hire me were in the worst week of their lives when they first called. Many of them have written about what it was like to work with my office, and those reviews are on Google, where I would rather you read them than take my word for it.

Read our reviews on Google

Prospective clients may not obtain the same or similar results.

What is a car accident case worth?

Three questions tell us most of what we need on the first call.

1

How much insurance can be reached

Usually the biggest limit on value. A serious injury caused by a driver with a $10,000 policy is often a $10,000 case unless your own UM coverage or another defendant is in play.

2

How serious and permanent the injuries are

A permanent injury opens the door to pain and suffering, physical pain and other non-economic damages, and the cost of future care and lost earning capacity can outweigh today’s bills.

3

How clear the fault is

Florida reduces your recovery by your share of the fault and bars it entirely if you are more than 50 percent at fault.

We have recovered millions of dollars for car accident clients, including multiple seven-figure recoveries in catastrophic injury cases. If you want to understand how these cases are valued, we have written about the average settlement for a car accident in Miami, but be wary of anyone who quotes you a number before they know your facts. When a crash takes a life, the family may bring a wrongful death claim.

  • Medical bills
  • Future treatment
  • Lost wages
  • Lost earning capacity
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress
  • Medical expenses still owed

$750,000

Pedestrian struck in a marked crosswalk. The insurer valued the case at $115,000 and disputed the injuries, which required spinal surgery. We worked the case up for trial, deposing the treating surgeons and moving to strike the defense’s medical expert, and it settled on the day of trial.

$500,000

Our client was seriously injured when a vehicle owned by an institution and driven by one of its employees struck the client’s car. We pursued the institution both as the driver’s employer and as the vehicle’s owner, and after spinal surgery we negotiated down the medical and health-insurance liens before settling.

$250,000

A man needing extensive spinal treatment after a crash died of unrelated causes while his lawsuit was pending. We opened a probate estate and substituted its representative so the claim survived, then settled it for the estate.

Want to know what your case is worth?

Call and Prosper will walk through what happened, your injuries, and which insurance is in play, including your own, usually on that first call.

(305) 694-2676 Free case review

Five numbers that decide car accident cases in Florida

$10,000

PIP benefits, at most

Your own PIP (personal injury protection) pays up to $10,000 in benefits, 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages, regardless of fault. Without a finding of an emergency medical condition, medical benefits stop at $2,500.

Fla. Stat. § 627.736

14 days

PIP treatment window

You must begin medical treatment within 14 days of the crash. Miss that window and you lose PIP medical benefits.

Fla. Stat. § 627.736

2 years

Deadline to file

You generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a negligence lawsuit, for crashes on or after March 24, 2023. A UM/UIM claim has five years, because it is a contract claim.

Fla. Stat. § 95.11

More than 50%

The fault bar

A person found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing. At 50 percent fault or less, recovery is reduced by their share of the fault.

Fla. Stat. § 768.81

$0

Required injury coverage

Florida does not require most private drivers to carry bodily injury coverage, one of the very few states that does not. Drivers with a DUI conviction and commercial vehicles are among the exceptions.

Fla. Stat. §§ 324.022, 324.023

Avoid these

Common mistakes that cost car accident clients money

The Miami car accident cases that come out worse than they should are usually not the hardest cases. They are the ones where a recoverable mistake was made in the first few weeks.

  • Giving a recorded statement to the at-fault carrier. The insurance company’s adjuster sounds friendly, and twenty minutes later you have boxed yourself in on every fact that mattered. Decline politely, say you will follow up through your attorney, and mean it.
  • Missing the 14-day window. Miss it and you lose PIP medical benefits entirely. Even an urgent care or primary care visit within the window protects them.
  • Settling before you know what is wrong. Settling at week 4, before the MRI shows what is really wrong, almost always leaves money on the table that could have paid for surgery, future treatment and lost income.
  • Signing a property damage release unread. Some include broad language that releases the personal injury claim too. If you are unsure, do not sign before talking to a lawyer.
  • Posting on social media. Insurance investigators check early. A wedding photo or a workout video can be used to argue your injury is less serious than the file shows. Lock down your accounts and stop posting, but do not delete anything.

Who pays after a Florida car accident

Most people assume one driver and one policy, and the adjusters are happy to let them. In practice the money for a car accident claim often sits in several places, and finding all of it is often the difference between a small settlement and a real one.

The car crash

In the simple case, your PIP pays first and the at-fault driver’s insurance provider covers the rest, up to its limits. From the start we also look at the owner, an employer, a rideshare policy and your own UM, because one driver’s policy is often not enough.

01

Your PIP

Pays first, regardless of fault, up to $10,000 in benefits.

02

MedPay, if you carry it

Optional coverage that helps with medical costs PIP does not cover, including the medical expenses that land after your PIP benefits run out.

03

The other driver’s insurance

Medical bills and lost wages, and pain and suffering past the serious-injury threshold.

04

The owner or the driver’s employer

Florida holds vehicle owners responsible when they allow someone to use the car, and employers for drivers on the job.

05

A rideshare policy

Uber and Lyft coverage depends on what the app was doing.

06

Your own UM/UIM

Pays when the other driver has too little coverage, or none, and can stack.

We regularly take cases other firms turned away after a quick check came back “no insurance,” and about half of them turn out to have UM/UIM available somewhere: on the client’s own policy, on a household member’s, or on the vehicle they were a passenger in. “No coverage” should never come from an unsolicited adjuster on the phone.

The Florida insurance rules behind every car accident case

A car accident claim is paid by insurance, and Florida’s insurance statutes decide who pays, what a jury may see, and when a carrier has to act. These are the rules we work with in almost every case.

Rule What it means in your case

PIP and the emergency-condition rule

Fla. Stat. § 627.736

PIP pays up to $10,000 in benefits, 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages, regardless of fault. Medical benefits require treatment that begins within 14 days of the crash, and without a finding of an emergency medical condition they stop at $2,500.

The serious-injury threshold

Fla. Stat. § 627.737

Pain and suffering can be recovered from the at-fault driver only for significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability other than scarring or disfigurement, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. Medical bills and lost wages beyond PIP do not require crossing it.

UM/UIM and stacking

Fla. Stat. § 627.727

UM coverage matches your bodily injury limits unless a named insured rejected it or chose lower limits in writing, on the state-approved form. Separately, unless a valid non-stacking election was made, UM limits on more than one insured vehicle can add up.

Medical bills and letters of protection

Fla. Stat. § 768.0427

For bills already paid, a jury hears the amount actually paid. Unpaid bills are measured against what your health insurance would pay, or, with no coverage or with Medicare or Medicaid, 120% of Medicare or 170% of Medicaid rates. Treatment on a letter of protection requires disclosing the letter, itemized bills and any referral relationship.

Policy limits disclosure

Fla. Stat. § 627.4137

A liability insurer must disclose its policy limits under oath within 30 days of a written request. It is one of the first letters we send, because the limits shape how the case is worked.

The bad-faith safe harbor

Fla. Stat. § 624.155

A liability insurer that tenders its policy limits, or the amount demanded if lower, within 90 days of actual notice of a claim backed by sufficient evidence of its amount cannot be sued for bad faith on that claim. That clock is separate from our demand deadline, and a lowball offer does not make us wait it out.

How fault works under Florida law

Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule, a person who is more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing, and at 50 percent or less the recovery is reduced by their share of the fault. If a jury values a case at $200,000 and finds you 25 percent at fault, you recover $150,000; at exactly 50 percent, $100,000; at 51 percent, nothing.

At 50 percent fault or less:
you recover, reduced by your share

More than 50% at fault:
you recover nothing

Fla. Stat. § 768.81

Comparative fault is one of the first arguments a carrier raises. It will point to a brake-check or a missed signal, argue you were not wearing a seatbelt, and lean on the police report wherever the officer hedged. The difference between 30 percent and 51 percent at fault can be a six-figure swing on the same facts, and it often decides whether a fair settlement is possible at all.

The police report is not the final word; the evidence is. In one case the other driver’s insurer denied liability and blamed our client for running a red light on a protected left. Her car’s black-box data showed she had stopped, then accelerated steadily to 17 miles per hour, and a pixel analysis of her camera footage found the green arrow under the glare, which the report never mentioned. Traffic camera footage from the intersection and nearby businesses is often decisive in the same way, and it is usually overwritten within days.

Common car accidents we handle

Most Miami car crashes are not random: the same causes repeat on the same corridors, and the cause shapes both who is liable and what evidence has to be preserved.

Distracted driving

Distracted drivers using phones for texting or scrolling, and interacting with touchscreens, the single biggest cause of rear-end and lane-departure crashes in South Florida.

Drunk and impaired driving

Alcohol and drugs, most often late at night out of Brickell, South Beach and Wynwood, and toward Hialeah on weekends.

Speeding and aggressive driving

Worst on the Palmetto, I-95, the Dolphin Expressway and the Turnpike, and worse when an afternoon storm hits.

Red lights and stop signs

Usually won with traffic camera footage and footage from nearby businesses, if it is saved in time.

Rear-end collisions

Florida presumes the rear driver is at fault, but carriers still fight hard once the injuries are serious.

T-bone and broadside crashes

Almost always a run light or stop sign, with severe injuries because a door offers little protection.

Rideshare crashes

Uber and Lyft coverage changes with whether the app was off, waiting, en route or carrying a passenger.

See rideshare accident claims

Pedestrians hit by cars

People on foot struck by a car, where the driver’s policy and your own PIP can both apply.

See pedestrian accident claims

Unsafe lane changes

Drivers who merge or change lanes without room, often at speed on a multilane expressway.

See unsafe lane change claims

Taxi crashes

Crashes involving a cab, where the taxi company and its commercial insurance can be in play.

See taxi accident claims

Around Miami-Dade County these crashes cluster where the traffic is heaviest: the Palmetto, I-95 north of the airport, SR 836 and the Turnpike, and intersection crashes at Bird Road and 87th Avenue, NW 167th Street and 27th Avenue, and Biscayne Boulevard north of the Julia Tuttle.

Frequently asked questions

Your own PIP coverage pays up to $10,000 in benefits, 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages, regardless of fault. Medical benefits require treatment within 14 days of the crash, and without an emergency medical condition finding they stop at $2,500. Pain and suffering from the at-fault driver requires crossing the serious-injury threshold of Fla. Stat. § 627.737, such as a permanent injury. Medical bills and lost wages beyond PIP do not.

PIP is on your own policy and pays your medical bills first, no fault analysis required. BI is on the at-fault driver’s policy and pays your damages once liability is established. PIP is required on every Florida auto policy. BI is not: Florida does not require most private drivers to carry bodily injury coverage, one of the very few states that does not. Drivers with a DUI conviction and commercial vehicles are among the exceptions.

Generally two years from the date of the crash, for crashes on or after March 24, 2023. A UM/UIM claim has five years, because it is a contract claim. A wrongful death claim runs two years from the date of death. A child’s deadline can sometimes be paused, but that rule is narrow, so do not count on it. If you are close to the deadline, call anyway: we may file right away to protect the case.

You may still recover, even after a hit-and-run, through your own uninsured motorist coverage, a household member’s policy, or by stacking on multiple vehicles when stacking was not waived in writing. About half of the “no coverage” cases other firms turn away actually have UM somewhere. Before you accept “no coverage” from an adjuster, have someone check every policy in your household.

Yes. Passenger claims are among the most common car accident claims in Florida, and usually the cleanest, because a passenger is almost never at fault. Many hesitate because seeking compensation from a friend’s or relative’s policy feels wrong or may raise their rates. But the claim is made against the driver’s coverage, which is what that coverage exists for, and as long as you are not an insured under that same policy, you can pursue compensation.

Maybe not, if the injury is genuinely minor: no imaging findings, no specialist treatment, fully resolved in 4 to 6 weeks, and PIP covers it. But disc herniations and brain injuries often do not show up right away, so make the lawyer-or-no-lawyer call after a couple of weeks of specialist treatment, not after the first ER visit. Either way, see a doctor within 14 days. The consultation is free.

Most Florida car accident cases that resolve before suit take 6 to 18 months from intake; cases that go into litigation usually take 18 to 36 months from filing. The biggest driver is medical treatment: a case generally should not settle until you reach maximum medical improvement, often 3 to 6 months for soft-tissue injuries and 12 to 18 months or longer after surgery or a brain injury.

You can still recover. Florida law allows recovery when a crash aggravates a pre-existing condition: the degenerative disc that never caused pain until the collision, the old back injury that got permanently worse. Most adults over forty have some degenerative findings on an MRI, and adjusters lean on them hard. The before-and-after story in your medical records is what separates “that was already there” from “the crash made it worse.”

Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee: our legal fees are a percentage of what we recover for you, and if there is no recovery you owe no fee and no costs. We advance the case costs, and when we recover they are paid from the recovery. No case here settles below the figure the client has authorized.

Usually not. Most car accident claims in Florida settle before a lawsuit is ever filed, and most of the cases that do get filed still settle before trial. We prepare every case as if it will be tried, because that is what makes a carrier pay full value, but the goal is to resolve your claim without you ever having to take the stand.

Answers written and reviewed by Prosper Shaked, Florida personal injury attorney.

Call a Miami car accident lawyer

Most car accident cases are won quietly, in the file, in the first thirty days, while the evidence can still be saved and the treatment still has a strategy behind it. Call and you will reach an attorney, not an intake screener, on that call or later the same day.

Call (305) 694-2676 Free case review




    I do not charge a fee unless I recover money for you. If there is no recovery you owe no fee and no costs. When we recover, case costs are paid from the recovery.

    Terms for Submitting Inquiry: By providing my phone number to Prosper Injury Attorneys, I agree and acknowledge that Prosper Injury Attorneys may send text messages to my wireless phone number for any purpose. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary, and you can Opt-out by replying “STOP”.

    Privacy Policy: No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

    The consultation is free, and I do not charge a fee unless I recover money for you. Prosper Injury Attorneys · 15520 W Dixie Hwy, North Miami Beach, FL 33162

    call
    text