Claims for a Family Struck by a Red-Light Runner

Attorney Answer

Everyone who was in the car has a claim of their own — you and each child separately — and in Florida every one of those claims starts with personal injury protection coverage, not with the other driver's insurer. The children's claims are handled through you as their parent, and they come with extra steps worth asking a lawyer about.

Personal injury protection, or PIP, is the first layer. Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1) requires a complying policy to provide those benefits to the named insured, to relatives living in the same household, to people operating the insured vehicle and to passengers in it, up to a limit of $10,000 in medical and disability benefits and $5,000 in death benefits. Children riding in the family car are covered on that footing. PIP pays whether or not the other driver was at fault, and it pays 60 percent of lost income as well as the medical share.

The trap is the deadline inside the medical-benefits paragraph. Section 627.736(1)(a) provides for "Eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services, including prosthetic devices and medically necessary ambulance, hospital, and nursing services if the individual receives initial services and care pursuant to subparagraph 1. within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident." That clock runs for each injured person, children included. Children often shrug off a crash and then hurt for weeks; getting them examined inside that window protects the benefit either way.

Past PIP, Florida treats two kinds of damages differently. Money losses — bills above the PIP limit, lost wages, out-of-pocket costs — are recoverable without any special gate. Damages for pain and suffering are gated. Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2) provides that, in a case arising out of the use of a motor vehicle, "a plaintiff may recover damages in tort for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience because of bodily injury, sickness, or disease arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation, or use of such motor vehicle only in the event that the injury or disease consists in whole or in part of: (a) Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function. (b) Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement. (c) Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement. (d) Death." That test is applied to each injured person on his or her own medical picture.

On fault, Fla. Stat. § 316.1925(1) provides: "Any person operating a vehicle upon the streets or highways within the state shall drive the same in a careful and prudent manner, having regard for the width, grade, curves, corners, traffic, and all other attendant circumstances, so as not to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person." Running a red light is strong evidence, but the other side is still allowed to argue some share of fault. For accidents before March 24, 2023, Fla. Stat. § 768.81(2) provided: "In a negligence action, contributory fault chargeable to the claimant diminishes proportionately the amount awarded as economic and noneconomic damages for an injury attributable to the claimant's contributory fault, but does not bar recovery." The Legislature changed that rule in 2023 for later accidents; which version governs a given crash is a question for a Florida attorney.

What you can do

1. Have each person in the car, including every child, examined within 14 days of the crash — § 627.736(1)(a) ties the medical benefits to initial care inside that window.

2. Open a PIP claim with your own auto insurer and report the crash to your insurer even though the other driver ran the light.

3. Ask the responding agency for a copy of the crash report, and note the citation number if one was issued.

4. Keep a simple file for each person: bills, explanations of benefits, missed school or work, and how each of them is actually doing week to week.

5. Ask a Florida lawyer how your children's claims are brought and settled — a minor's claim carries approval and paperwork requirements an adult's does not — and whether anyone's injuries meet the § 627.737(2) threshold.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts with someone who can hear the whole story is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Fla. Stat. § 95.11 sets the limitations period, and it changed in 2023: accidents before March 24, 2023 fell under the former four-year negligence period, and later accidents under a shorter one. A child's claim can run on different timing than a parent's. Your deadlines depend on your own dates, so have a Florida attorney review them rather than working from a general rule.