A motorcycle lying on its side at the roadside with a helmet on the pavement nearby

Miami and Tampa motorcycle accident lawyer

No PIP. No cushion. The first bill arrives anyway.

Riders are handed the worst version of Florida’s insurance scheme. The no-fault benefit that catches every driver in the state does not catch a motorcyclist, which means the financial problem starts on day one rather than at the $10,000 mark.

Free case review Miami (305) 662-4323 Tampa (813) 930-5422

PIP coverage: NoneFlorida does not extend no-fault PIP to motorcycles
Deadline to sue: 2 yearsFla. Stat. § 95.11, for crashes on or after 24 March 2023
Helmet exemption: $10,000Riders 21+ with that much medical coverage. Fla. Stat. § 316.211
Fault limit: 50%Over half at fault and the claim is worth nothing. § 768.81

01 The coverage gap

Why Florida PIP does not cover motorcycle accidents

Personal Injury Protection attaches to a motor vehicle with four or more wheels. Riders are outside it. People who have carried auto insurance for twenty years assume their PIP follows them onto the bike, and it generally does not.

The practical consequence is immediate. There is no $10,000 cushion while the liability claim is worked out. The emergency room bill, the imaging and the orthopedic consult all land before anyone has established who was at fault.

This is why uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage matters more for a rider than for almost anyone else on the road, and why the first thing worth checking is what is on your own policy rather than the other driver’s.

02 The helmet argument

Florida motorcycle helmet law and how insurers use it

Florida allows a rider 21 or older to ride without a helmet if they carry at least $10,000 in medical benefits for injuries from a motorcycle crash. Riding without one is therefore lawful for most adult riders, and defense counsel knows it.

What follows is an attempt to convert a lawful choice into comparative fault, with the suggestion that the injuries would have been less severe otherwise. Since 2023 that argument carries more weight than it used to, because fault above 50% now bars recovery entirely rather than reducing it.

Whether a helmet would have changed anything is a medical question about the specific injuries, not a moral one about the rider.

03 Where these cases come from

Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade riding concentrates on US-1, Biscayne Boulevard and the causeways, where left-turning drivers across traffic produce the classic rider collision. Serious injuries go to Ryder Trauma at Jackson Memorial.

The Miami office · Homestead

Hillsborough

Hillsborough riders run Dale Mabry, Hillsborough Avenue and the Courtney Campbell, with the same left-turn and lane-change pattern. Serious injuries are routed to Tampa General.

The Tampa office

04 What damages a claim

Assuming auto PIP covers the bike. It does not.
Not checking the uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy before settling.
Letting the gear and the bike be disposed of before anyone photographs them.
Accepting an early offer while the orthopedic picture is still unresolved.

Frequently asked questions about Florida motorcycle accidents

I was not wearing a helmet. Does that end my claim?

No. If you are 21 or older and carry the medical coverage § 316.211 requires, riding without a helmet is lawful.

Expect the insurer to raise it anyway and try to attach a share of the fault to it. Whether it affected these particular injuries is a medical question, and it is answered with records and experts rather than assumption.

Who pays my hospital bill if the driver who hit me had no insurance?

Your own uninsured motorist coverage, if you carry it, and health insurance where it applies. Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability, so an uninsured at-fault driver is common rather than unusual.

For a rider with no PIP, UM coverage is often the only meaningful source of recovery in the case.

05 Related matters

The full list is on the personal injury page.

Tell Jose what happened

A free review of your motorcycle accidents case, with no obligation, and no fee and no costs unless there is a recovery. English or Spanish, whichever you would rather use. You speak with Jose A. Dapena directly at every stage, not with an intake department — and if there is no claim worth bringing, he will tell you that.

Miami (305) 662-4323 Homestead (786) 900-0184 Tampa (813) 930-5422