Where Temple Terrace’s serious crashes happen
Hillsborough County recorded about 25,000 crashes, 15,700 injuries and 172 deaths in 2025 in FLHSMV’s preliminary figures, and its Vision Zero program has named it the large U.S. county with the highest traffic death rate per capita. Temple Terrace’s share comes from a few roads:
- Fowler Avenue (SR 582) from USF to I-75: six lanes of student, hospital and commuter traffic, with the county’s highest pedestrian crash counts between Bruce B. Downs and 56th Street and the interstate ramps at the east end.
- 56th Street (SR 583) from Busch Boulevard to Fletcher Avenue: the north-south spine past the city hall and the colleges, with left-turn and red-light crashes at Fowler and Busch.
- Busch Boulevard and Bullard Parkway (SR 580): the Busch Gardens corridor, with the tourist traffic, the 56th Street signal and the river bridge.
- Fletcher Avenue from USF to I-75: the hospital corridor past AdventHealth Tampa, with pedestrians crossing between distant signals.
- I-75 at Fowler and Fletcher: the interchanges that carry Temple Terrace’s traffic north and south, with high-speed rear-end crashes on the ramps.
- Temple Terrace Highway, Harney Road and 78th Street: the eastern connectors toward US-301 and Thonotosassa, two and four lanes carrying industrial and subdivision traffic.
If you were hurt on one of these roads, cameras, event data and witnesses exist for days, not months. Contact us as soon as you can so we can preserve them.
Personal injury cases we handle in Temple Terrace
Car accidents
Fowler and 56th Street intersection crashes, I-75 rear-end chains, Busch Boulevard left turns and uninsured drivers, which in Hillsborough County means roughly one driver in five. Florida’s no-fault rules, the permanent-injury threshold and comparative fault decide these cases, and we explain each below. See the Florida car accident practice page.
Truck and commercial vehicle accidents
The I-75 freight corridor, the Harney Road industrial parks and the delivery fleets on Fowler and 56th Street. These cases turn on federal hours-of-service and maintenance records and on reaching the truck’s data before it is overwritten. Truck accidents.
Motorcycle accidents
Hillsborough recorded 514 motorcycle crashes and 28 rider deaths in 2025. Drivers who “didn’t see” a rider on Fowler or 56th Street are still responsible for the injuries they cause. Motorcycle accidents.
Pedestrian and bicycle accidents
Fowler Avenue and Fletcher Avenue around USF are among the worst pedestrian corridors in the county, with students and hospital visitors crossing six lanes between distant signals. Pedestrians and cyclists have the same right to recover as anyone else, and your own PIP policy covers you on foot. Pedestrian accidents.
Rideshare, hit-and-run and drunk-driving crashes
Uber and Lyft crashes, hit-and-run claims paid through uninsured motorist coverage, and drunk-driving cases that can include a dram shop claim against the bar.
Slip and fall and premises injuries
The shopping centers along Fowler and 56th Street, student apartment complexes, restaurants, hotels and parking lots. Florida requires proof the business knew or should have known of the hazard, and surveillance video is overwritten within days. Slip and fall accidents.
Negligent security
Assaults and shootings at apartment complexes, gas stations, bars and motels where the owner ignored known crime and skipped basic lighting, cameras or staffing. Negligent security.
Dog bites
Strict liability for the owner, usually paid by homeowner’s insurance. Dog bites.
Wrongful death
When a crash or a fall takes a family member, Florida’s Wrongful Death Act allows the estate and the surviving spouse, children and parents to recover lost support, funeral and medical expenses and the loss of companionship. Wrongful death.
Insurance and PIP disputes
Carriers that cut off benefits, deny treatment as unrelated or lowball uninsured motorist claims. Insurance claims and personal injury protection.
The Florida law that decides a Temple Terrace injury claim
Two years to file. Florida’s statute of limitations for negligence is two years from the injury (Florida Statutes § 95.11), the same as for wrongful death. Claims against the City of Temple Terrace, Hillsborough County, HART, the school district, the University of South Florida or a state agency carry separate notice requirements under § 768.28 and should be opened early.
Modified comparative negligence. Under § 768.81 a jury’s finding that you were 50 percent or less at fault reduces your award by that share; 51 percent or more bars recovery. Insurers build your share in recorded statements. Do not give one without counsel.
No-fault first. Florida requires $10,000 of personal injury protection on every registered car (§ 627.736). It pays 80 percent of medical bills and 60 percent of lost wages up to that limit, only if you are seen by a medical provider within 14 days, and only $2,500 of it unless a physician documents an emergency medical condition.
Pain and suffering needs a permanent injury. Non-economic damages against the at-fault driver require proof of a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant scarring, or death (§ 627.737). Consistent treatment and imaging supply that proof.
Uninsured drivers. Florida does not require bodily injury coverage and roughly one driver in five carries none. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy, and on the policies of relatives in your household, is often the largest source of recovery in a Temple Terrace crash. We read every policy in the household before we value a case.
Premises and security cases. A business owes its customers reasonable care; for a fall on a transitory substance, § 768.0755 requires proof the business knew or should have known of it, which is why video, inspection logs and incident reports matter. For negligent security, prior crime at and around the property is the evidence, and Hillsborough County’s public records make it available.
What changed in 2023. Juries now hear what was paid or owed for treatment rather than billed charges; letters of protection are disclosed with the referral; and bad-faith claims against insurers require the insurer to have been given a fair chance to pay. Cases built correctly from the first appointment do well under these rules.
What you can recover. Medical expenses past and future, lost wages and earning capacity, out-of-pocket costs, property damage, and, where the injury is permanent, pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life. Florida places no cap on these damages in an ordinary negligence case. A spouse may claim loss of consortium.
Temple Terrace resources after an accident
In an emergency, call 911. These are the agencies and facilities a Temple Terrace injury claim runs through.
Courthouse
Hillsborough County civil cases are heard in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse, 800 East Twiggs Street, Tampa, FL 33602, with the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court in the same building. Most of our cases settle without a lawsuit; the ones that do not are filed in Tampa.
Crash reports and police
Crashes inside the city are investigated by the Temple Terrace Police Department, 11250 North 56th Street, Temple Terrace, FL 33617; crashes on the Tampa side of Fowler and 56th Street by the Tampa Police Department; crashes in the unincorporated county by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office; crashes on I-75 often by Florida Highway Patrol Troop C, 11305 North McKinley Drive, Tampa, FL 33612. Reports are available to the people involved through FLHSMV’s Florida Crash Portal within a few days; we obtain them for every client, along with body-camera and dash-camera video.
Hospitals
AdventHealth Tampa, 3100 East Fletcher Avenue, Tampa, FL 33613, on the city’s northern edge; St. Joseph’s Hospital, 3001 West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33607; and, for the most serious injuries, Tampa General Hospital, 1 Tampa General Circle, Tampa, FL 33606, the region’s Level I trauma center.
Fire and EMS
Temple Terrace Fire Department inside the city; Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and Tampa Fire Rescue around it, and their run reports are part of every file we build.
If you were treated at any of these facilities after someone else’s negligence, keep every discharge paper and bill; they are the first documents we ask for.
Results for injured clients in Hillsborough County and across Florida
Kemp Law Group has recovered over $400 million in settlements since 2008. Recoveries confirmed from the firm’s case records include:
- $2,415,000 for a motorcycle rider with a traumatic brain injury struck by a car
- $2,000,000 for the family of a driver killed by a commercial carrier’s truck
- $2,000,000 for a 64-year-old pedestrian struck while crossing the road
- $1,500,000 for a driver rear-ended in stopped traffic by a commercial truck whose driver fell asleep
- $1,102,000 for a driver hit by a landscaping company’s vehicle
- $1,000,000 for a passenger with a brain injury and a neck fusion after a collision with a business owner’s vehicle
- $959,421 for a driver hit by a logistics company’s driver, with a brain injury and a neck fusion
Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a particular outcome. See more case results.
Who handles your Temple Terrace case
Kelly Cook leads the firm’s Hillsborough County work. Before joining Kemp Law Group she was a partner at a Tampa civil trial firm, where she defended large insurance companies and their insureds in Hillsborough courtrooms; she now uses that knowledge of how carriers value and defend claims for injured clients. Stacy Kemp Ferrari founded the firm in 2008 and owns it today; cases that need a courtroom are prepared by the litigation team under managing litigation attorney Ian Boettcher. From your first call, a member of our team takes the time to understand what happened, and an attorney reviews every case and stays involved from intake to resolution.
The firm’s Trinity office holds a 4.9-star rating across more than 900 Google reviews, many from clients in Temple Terrace, the USF area and north Tampa.
Temple Terrace personal injury questions
Do you have an office in Temple Terrace?
Our office is at 11567 Trinity Boulevard in Trinity, about 40 minutes away by State Road 54 and I-75. We meet Temple Terrace clients by appointment, at home or in the hospital, and handle most of the case by phone, text and video.
How long do I have to file a claim in Hillsborough County?
Two years from the date of injury for negligence and wrongful death claims. Claims against the City of Temple Terrace, Hillsborough County, HART, the school district, USF or a state agency have earlier notice deadlines, so call sooner if a government vehicle or property was involved.
What if the insurer says I was partly at fault?
Florida reduces your recovery by your share of fault and bars it entirely at 51 percent or more. Adjusters assign fault to limit payouts; we investigate independently, pull camera footage and vehicle data, and advise clients not to give recorded statements before speaking with us.
The driver who hit me had no insurance.
Common in Hillsborough County, where roughly one driver in five is uninsured. We look first to the uninsured motorist coverage on your policy and on the policies of relatives you live with, then to any other responsible party: an employer, a vehicle owner, a bar that over-served a drunk driver.
I was hit crossing Fowler Avenue. Is that a case?
Often, yes. Pedestrians have the same right to recover as drivers, the businesses along Fowler have cameras on every driveway, and your household’s PIP and uninsured motorist coverage can apply even when you were on foot. We send preservation letters the week you call, because that footage is kept for days.
Where would my case be filed?
In the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse in downtown Tampa. Most cases settle without a lawsuit, and most lawsuits settle before trial; we prepare every case as though a Hillsborough County jury will hear it.
What does a Temple Terrace personal injury lawyer cost?
Nothing up front. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery set by Florida Bar rules and explained in writing before you sign, and you owe no fees and no costs unless we win. The consultation is free.
Talk to a Temple Terrace personal injury lawyer today
The insurer already has adjusters, investigators and lawyers on your case. You should have the same. Call or text 727-847-4878 or contact us online for a free consultation, 24 hours a day. We will tell you honestly whether you have a case, what it is likely worth, and what happens next, and you owe no fees and no costs unless we win.
Kemp Law Group, 11567 Trinity Boulevard, Trinity, FL 34655. Serving Temple Terrace, the USF area, Thonotosassa, Seffner and all of north and east Tampa, with meetings by appointment and home and hospital visits anywhere in Tampa Bay.
The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
