Pedestrian Accident Attorneys
Florida is consistently one of the most dangerous states in the country for pedestrians, and Volusia County sits near the top of the state. A Florida pedestrian-injury case usually runs on right-of-way law (Fla. Stat. § 316.130), the pedestrian's own auto PIP coverage (which follows the person, not the car), and a UM/UIM claim when the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured. Our personal injury attorneys handle pedestrian crash claims across Volusia, Flagler, and Central Florida.
A Florida pedestrian case runs on a different recovery map than most clients expect. The pedestrian's own auto PIP coverage follows the person, not the car — so a pedestrian who carries auto insurance has $10,000 of no-fault medical coverage available even while they were on foot. Liability runs through the at-fault driver's bodily-injury (BIL) coverage, and when that driver is uninsured or underinsured (common in Florida), the pedestrian's uninsured-motorist (UM/UIM) stack is often the meaningful recovery source. Our personal injury attorneys handle pedestrian cases across Volusia, Flagler, and Central Florida. Call us at (386) 255-1400 24 hours a day for a free consultation.
Right-of-way is usually the first anchor
Florida's right-of-way framework for pedestrians lives in Fla. Stat. § 316.130 (pedestrian rules) and § 316.075 (traffic-control signals). Most pedestrian cases turn on a short list of statutory provisions:
- At a controlled intersection (signal): the driver's duty turns on the light at the moment of the impact. A driver who fails to yield on a red right-turn or when the pedestrian has the WALK signal is the typical fault posture.
- In a marked crosswalk without a signal: drivers must yield to a pedestrian who is on the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or close enough to be in danger (§ 316.130(7)(a)).
- Outside a crosswalk: the pedestrian must yield to traffic, but every driver retains the duty to "exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian" and to give warning when necessary (§ 316.130(15)). Drivers cannot run a pedestrian down simply because the pedestrian is not in a crosswalk.
In Volusia and Flagler, the most common scenarios that decide pedestrian cases are: drivers turning right on red without stopping for the pedestrian in the crosswalk, drivers exiting parking lots without stopping at the sidewalk line, and drivers traveling at speed through pedestrian-heavy beachside corridors. Each has its own statutory anchor.
What Florida's 2023 tort reform changed for your case
The 2023 tort reform package (HB 837) made the most significant changes to Florida personal injury law in a generation. Two of those changes touch nearly every auto-related case:
Statute of limitations: 4 years → 2 years
For negligence causes accruing on or after March 24, 2023, the deadline to file suit dropped from four years to two (§ 95.11(4)(a)). Older causes may still be governed by the prior four-year rule; the trigger is the cause-of-action date.
Comparative negligence: pure → 51% bar
Florida moved from pure comparative negligence to a modified system with a 51% bar (§ 768.81(6)). A plaintiff found more than 50% at fault recovers nothing. Below that, the recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's share of fault. Medical malpractice claims are statutorily exempt from the 51% bar.
On a pedestrian case, the 51% bar makes the right-of-way framing decisive: a pedestrian found more than 50% at fault for stepping into the road outside a crosswalk recovers zero, even with catastrophic injuries. Drivers' insurers know this and will push the comparative-fault percentage hard. Scene preservation, the police crash report, and any available camera (gas-station, doorbell, traffic) matter on day one.
How recovery works on a Florida pedestrian case
There are typically three sources of recovery in a Florida pedestrian-injury case:
Your own auto PIP (follows the person)
If you own a Florida auto policy with PIP, those benefits follow you on foot: 80% of reasonable medical expenses and 60% of lost wages up to $10,000 ($2,500 without an EMC diagnosis), under § 627.736. The 14-day initial-treatment window still applies. Resident-relative policies can extend this to family members in the same household.
At-fault driver's BIL
The at-fault driver's bodily-injury liability coverage, when they carry it. Florida does not require BIL on personal passenger vehicles, which is why so many pedestrian cases end up running through UM instead.
Your own UM/UIM stack (often the real recovery)
Because BIL is optional in Florida and so many drivers carry only the minimum, the pedestrian's own uninsured/underinsured-motorist coverage is frequently where the meaningful recovery sits. UM/UIM follows the policyholder, so it covers a pedestrian injury even though the policyholder was on foot. Stacked policies, household-resident-relative coverage, and umbrella policies all need to be identified early.
Florida pedestrian law has not moved. The defense playbook has.
The right-of-way statutes have been on the books for decades. What has moved — and moved sharply — is HB 837's 51% bar and the shorter SOL. On a pedestrian case those changes hit differently than they do on an in-vehicle case, because drivers' insurers will push the comparative-fault percentage harder when the plaintiff was on foot. We work pedestrian cases on the current statute, on day-one preservation, and with the local Volusia and Flagler venues in mind.
Recent case results
Real outcomes our team has secured for clients.
Hit by a driver in Volusia or Flagler? Both clocks are already running.
From the day-one investigation through settlement or trial, our personal injury attorneys handle pedestrian-injury claims across Volusia, Flagler, and Central Florida.
Our Areas of Personal Injury We Handle attorneys
Experienced advocates for your case.