Drug Test Results and a Rear-End Injury Claim

Attorney Answer

Do not let this keep you from being seen. A positive screen is not nothing — the other side can try to use it — but the Florida statute that actually bars a claim over intoxication needs two things at once, and on a rear-end crash you did not cause, the second one is very hard for anyone to prove.

Here is the statute people are usually thinking of. Fla. Stat. § 768.36(2) provides: "In any civil action, a plaintiff may not recover any damages for loss or injury to his or her person or property if the trier of fact finds that, at the time the plaintiff was injured: (a) The plaintiff was under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to the extent that the plaintiff's normal faculties were impaired or the plaintiff had a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher; and (b) As a result of the influence of such alcoholic beverage or drug the plaintiff was more than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm."

Read what that requires. Both paragraphs, together. Not just something in a person's system — impairment of normal faculties at the time of injury, or an alcohol level at or above 0.08. And then, on top of that, more than half the fault for the person's own harm, caused by that influence. The section also excludes prescription and over-the-counter medication taken as directed. A substance detected in urine days or hours later, in a person sitting stopped when someone hit them from behind, does not by itself satisfy either half.

That is reinforced by how Florida treats rear-end crashes. The law generally presumes the following driver was negligent, and while that presumption can be rebutted, it puts the burden of explaining the collision on the driver behind. Section 316.0895(1) separately forbids following another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent.

This page cannot tell you whether a particular hospital toxicology result can be obtained by the other side, or admitted, in a case. Those are rules of evidence and discovery. That question belongs to a lawyer before anything is filed, not to a search result.

The far bigger risk to your claim right now is not the test. It is the calendar. Section 627.736(1) requires personal injury protection up to a limit of $10,000 in medical and disability benefits, and § 627.736(1)(a) conditions the medical half on the injured person receiving "initial services and care pursuant to subparagraph 1. within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident." Miss that window and you can lose the coverage that pays your bills, whatever any test says. And if your injuries turn out to be lasting, § 627.737(2) is the gate for pain-and-suffering damages: it allows tort recovery for pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience only where the injury consists in whole or in part of 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. That threshold gates pain-and-suffering damages only — economic losses beyond what PIP pays, such as remaining medical bills and lost wages, are not gated by it. That showing is medical, and it starts with being examined.

What you can do

1. Get medical care now. Under § 627.736(1)(a), PIP medical benefits require initial services and care within 14 days of the crash.

2. Be straight with the people treating you about anything in your system. They need it to treat you safely, and it is not a reason to skip care.

3. Open a PIP claim with your own auto insurer and keep every bill and record.

4. Keep the crash report number, photographs of all three vehicles, and the contact details of anyone who saw it.

5. Ask a local lawyer, before you file anything, how the § 768.36 intoxication defense would apply on your facts and what medical records the other side can reach.

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

⏱ Time limits apply. Your crash falls on the current side of Florida's 2023 change, so the deadline for a negligence claim is the two-year period in Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a). That is shorter than the four years that older articles still describe, and other facts — who the defendant is, what claims are involved — can move it. Have a Florida attorney confirm the deadline on your specific facts, and do not wait to ask. This page does not calculate your date.