Florida Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

A rider’s claim runs on different rules than a driver’s

Kemp Law Group represents injured motorcyclists and the families of riders killed on Florida roads, statewide, and in Georgia through our Georgia-admitted attorney. The firm’s two largest motorcycle recoveries, $2,415,000 and $1,250,000, are among the largest results in its history, and since 2008 it has recovered more than $400 million for injured clients. Florida has among the highest motorcycle death counts in the country; FLHSMV counts roughly 9,000 motorcycle crashes and more than 500 rider deaths a year, and in most multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes the other driver is at fault. The claim that follows is not a car accident claim with a smaller vehicle. Three rules make it different from the first day, and the firm’s job is to use each of them.

Call (727) 847-4878 or contact us online for a free case review. We answer 24/7, and you pay no fee unless we win.

Three rules every injured rider should know

1. There is no PIP for motorcycles

Florida’s no-fault law applies to vehicles with four or more wheels. Motorcycles are excluded from the definition of a “motor vehicle” in section 627.732, so a rider has no Personal Injury Protection: no automatic $10,000 for medical bills and lost wages, and no 14-day rule, because there is nothing for it to attach to. A rider’s medical care is paid by health insurance, by medical payments coverage on the motorcycle policy if the rider bought it, or by treatment under a letter of protection while the claim proceeds, and every dollar of it is then recovered from the at-fault driver. The first thing we do in a motorcycle case is make sure the rider is being treated and that the bills have a path.

2. The permanent-injury threshold does not apply to you

Because a motorcycle is outside the no-fault system, the threshold in section 627.737 that bars car accident victims from recovering pain and suffering unless they prove a permanent injury does not apply to a motorcyclist’s claim against a driver. Florida’s courts settled that in Scherzer v. Beron, 455 So. 2d 441 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984). A rider can recover pain and suffering, disability, scarring and loss of enjoyment of life from the first dollar, without the permanency fight that consumes most car cases. Insurers do not volunteer this, and many claims are undervalued because a rider’s own lawyer treated the case like a car crash.

3. The coverage search decides the case

Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage at all, and motorcycle injuries are severe, so the at-fault driver’s policy is often the smallest part of the recovery. Where the money is:

• The at-fault driver’s bodily injury coverage, and any umbrella policy behind it.
• The vehicle owner, under Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine, when someone else was driving the car that hit you.
• An employer, when the driver was working: delivery, commercial fleets, rideshare drivers with the $1 million policy that applies during a ride, and commercial trucks with federal insurance minimums.
• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your motorcycle policy, under section 627.727. This is the coverage that pays when the driver who hit you carried nothing or too little, and it is the single most important line on a Florida rider’s policy. If you don’t have it, buy it before you ride again.
• Other household policies, which sometimes provide uninsured motorist coverage to a resident relative depending on the policy language and whether the motorcycle is listed; we read every policy in the household before concluding one doesn’t apply.
• A bar or restaurant that knowingly served a habitual drunkard or a minor, under section 768.125, in a drunk driving crash.
• A government agency, for crashes caused by road defects, missing signage or dangerous design, under section 768.28 with its notice requirement and caps.
• A manufacturer, when a defective tire, brake, helmet or part caused or worsened the crash.

How riders get hurt, and how insurers argue about it

The most common serious motorcycle crash in Florida is a driver turning left across a rider’s path at an intersection or into a driveway; next are lane changes into a rider the driver never looked for, rear-end collisions at lights, and drivers pulling out of plazas on roads like US-19 and US-41. Drivers in those crashes almost always say they did not see the motorcycle, which is an admission, not a defense.

The insurer’s response is to shift fault onto the rider. The arguments are the same in every file: speed, lane position, “weaving,” a dark jacket, a loud exhaust, no helmet. Under Florida’s comparative negligence rule in section 768.81, a rider found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing, and a smaller share reduces the award, so these arguments are made for money, not accuracy. Answering them with evidence is the center of a motorcycle case: the crash report and the officer’s diagram, event data from the car, the rider’s GPS and phone data, scene measurements and skid analysis, camera footage from businesses at the intersection, and, where fault is disputed, an accident reconstructionist who can show the physics of a left-turn crash.

Helmets and the law

Under section 316.211, a rider 21 or older who carries at least $10,000 in medical benefits coverage may ride without a helmet; everyone else must wear one. Riding lawfully without a helmet does not bar a claim. Defense lawyers nonetheless argue that a helmet would have reduced a head injury, and whether that argument reaches a jury depends on medical evidence that the specific injury was helmet-preventable. We meet it with the treating physicians and, when needed, a biomechanical expert. Lane splitting is illegal in Florida under section 316.209, and a rider who was doing it will face that argument; most riders in our cases were not.

What we do in the first week

• Get you treated and the bills routed: health insurance, MedPay, or a letter of protection with physicians who understand crash injuries, so the medical record documents causation from the first visit.
• Take over every insurer. Letters of representation go to the driver’s carrier, the owner’s, any employer’s, and your own uninsured motorist carrier, which has rights under your policy that we manage so the claim is not prejudiced.
• Preserve the evidence. The crash report and officer footage, 911 audio, the other vehicle’s event data recorder before the car is repaired, plaza and traffic cameras before they overwrite, and your motorcycle itself, which must not be repaired or sold until it has been inspected and photographed.
• Find every policy, including the ones the adjuster does not mention.
• Protect your motorcycle claim. Property damage, gear and helmet replacement, and diminished value are separate claims that we handle so they are not traded away in the injury settlement.

What a Florida motorcycle accident claim can recover

Medical care past and future, including the surgeries, rehabilitation and prosthetics that serious crashes require; lost wages and lost earning capacity; household help; property damage; and the non-economic damages the threshold cannot touch in a rider’s case: pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement and scarring, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life. A spouse may claim loss of consortium. Punitive damages are available for intentional misconduct or gross negligence under section 768.72, with the cap lifted for a drunk or drugged driver under section 768.736. In a fatal crash, Florida’s Wrongful Death Act provides the survivors’ damages, and the claim is brought by the estate’s personal representative.

Since 2023, section 768.0427 limits evidence of medical bills to amounts actually paid or owed and requires disclosure of letters of protection, so we build the medical damages case around the actual charges and the treating physicians’ testimony. A negligence lawsuit must be filed within two years under section 95.11, two years from the death in a wrongful death case, and claims against government agencies require earlier written notice.

Motorcycle and motor vehicle results

Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a future outcome. These recoveries show the kinds of cases the firm handles:

• $2,415,000 in a motorcycle accident
• $1,250,000 in a motorcycle accident
• $1,250,000 in a hit-and-run with an uninsured driver
• $1,000,000 in a scooter accident with a commercial vehicle
• $991,118 in a drunk driving crash with a commercial vehicle

See more case results.

Where we handle motorcycle accident cases

Kemp Law Group represents riders throughout Florida and in Georgia, from our office at 11567 Trinity Boulevard in Trinity, a few minutes from US-19 and the Suncoast Parkway. See our pages for Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties; for Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, New Port Richey, Spring Hill and Wesley Chapel; for South Florida, Central Florida, Southwest Florida and North Florida; and for Georgia, where a rider’s claim follows Georgia’s at-fault rules.

Frequently asked questions about Florida motorcycle accidents

Who pays my medical bills after a motorcycle crash if there’s no PIP?

Your health insurance, medical payments coverage on your motorcycle policy if you carry it, or treatment under a letter of protection while the claim proceeds. Those bills are then recovered from the at-fault driver’s insurer and, where the driver was uninsured or underinsured, from your own uninsured motorist coverage. We arrange the path on the first call.

Do I have to prove a permanent injury to recover pain and suffering?

No. The permanent-injury threshold in section 627.737 applies to claims within Florida’s no-fault system, and motorcycles are outside it. A rider can recover pain and suffering and other non-economic damages from an at-fault driver without meeting the threshold.

I wasn’t wearing a helmet. Do I still have a case?

Yes. Riders 21 and older with $10,000 in medical benefits coverage may lawfully ride without a helmet in Florida, and riding without one does not bar a claim. The defense may argue a helmet would have lessened a head injury; that argument requires medical proof, and it has no bearing on injuries to the rest of the body.

The driver says they didn’t see me. Does that help them?

It helps you. A driver’s duty is to look before turning or changing lanes, and “I didn’t see the motorcycle” is an admission that the driver failed to. The evidence then goes to speed, position and visibility, which is where the investigation above earns its keep.

The driver who hit me has no insurance. What now?

Your uninsured motorist coverage pays as if it were the driver’s policy, up to its limits. We also look for a vehicle owner, an employer, a bar that over-served, and any other household policy that may apply. One of the firm’s largest recoveries, $1,250,000, came from a hit-and-run with an uninsured driver.

How long do I have to file?

Two years from the crash under section 95.11, and two years from the death in a fatal case, with earlier notice requirements when a government agency is responsible. Camera footage and event data disappear in weeks, so the useful deadline is now.

What does a motorcycle accident lawyer cost?

Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee within the Florida Bar’s maximum percentages, paid only from a recovery, and we advance the costs of the case. If there is no recovery, you owe no fee.

If you were hurt riding anywhere in Florida or Georgia, call (727) 847-4878 or request a free case review online. We answer 24 hours a day, and you pay nothing unless we win.