Employee Driver's Liability When Another Driver Was Speeding

Attorney Answer

Being named in someone's injury claim is not the same as being blamed for the crash. Florida divides responsibility by percentage among everyone who was at fault, so a driver who was speeding carries his share — and the vehicle's owner is usually in the case too.

Start with who can be brought into a claim. An injured passenger's attorney will normally look at every driver involved and at whoever owned the vehicles. That means you can be named even if the other driver's speed is what caused the collision. Separately, Florida's dangerous instrumentality doctrine — a rule developed by the courts rather than written into a statute — generally makes a vehicle's owner responsible for the negligent operation of a driver using the vehicle with permission. In practice that usually puts the employer that owns the van, and the employer's insurance, squarely in the matter alongside the driver.

Who the injured person is also matters. If she was a co-worker, Fla. Stat. § 440.11(1) is in play: it makes workers' compensation the exclusive remedy against the employer, and the same subsection extends that immunity to fellow employees acting in furtherance of the employer's business, with narrow carve-outs for willful and wanton disregard, unprovoked physical aggression and gross negligence. If she was not an employee — a resident or other passenger being transported — that immunity is not the answer, and her claim proceeds as an ordinary injury claim.

How fault gets divided depends on when the crash happened, because Florida changed the rule in 2023.

For accidents before March 24, 2023, Fla. Stat. § 768.81(2) provided: “EFFECT OF CONTRIBUTORY FAULT. — 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.” That was pure comparative fault: a share of the blame reduced what a claimant recovered and barred nothing, at any percentage.

For accidents on or after March 24, 2023, the Legislature changed that. The current § 768.81(2) keeps the same proportional reduction but makes it subject to a new subsection (6), which provides: “GREATER PERCENTAGE OF FAULT. — In a negligence action to which this section applies, any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages. This subsection does not apply to an action for damages for personal injury or wrongful death arising out of medical negligence pursuant to chapter 766.”

Which of those governs a particular crash — and how the 2023 act applies to a case brought later — is a question for a Florida attorney looking at your date. It is not something a page can decide. Either way, the point that matters to your worry is the same: a percentage of fault is assigned to each person who had one, and an approaching driver's speed is squarely part of that calculation.

Whether your employer can act against you over the crash is an employment question, separate from the injury claim, and it is outside what this page can answer.

What you can do

1. Tell your employer about the crash and about the claim in writing, and ask which insurer is handling it and who the adjuster is.

2. Keep the crash report, any photographs, and anything you wrote down at the time. Do not throw away notes because they seem unhelpful.

3. If an insurer or an attorney for the injured person asks you for a recorded statement, ask a lawyer before you agree to give one.

4. Ask your employer, in writing, whether its insurer will provide a defense for you if you are named personally.

5. Ask a Florida attorney which comparative-fault rule applies to your crash date. The rule changed in 2023, and the difference is real.

6. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts with a Florida injury attorney is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. The deadline for a negligence claim in Florida is set by Fla. Stat. § 95.11, and which period applies turns on when the crash happened: for accidents on or after March 24, 2023, § 95.11(5)(a) sets two years for an action founded on negligence, while for accidents before that date the former four-year period applied. Other rules can shift a deadline, and the deadline that matters to you is the one running against the person making the claim. Have a Florida attorney key the dates to your crash rather than counting from the calendar.