Miami Speeding Crash Lawyer
Speeding is one of the most common forms of dangerous driving, but the consequences can be far more serious than a traffic citation. A driver traveling too fast may have less time to react to changing traffic, a longer stopping distance, and a greater risk of causing severe injuries when a collision occurs. On busy Miami roads, where vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and commercial traffic share the roadway, excessive speed can turn an otherwise avoidable mistake into a catastrophic accident.
Sotolongo Law represents people injured in speeding crashes in Miami and throughout South Florida. We are a boutique personal injury firm that provides individual attention while remaining prepared to take on large insurance companies and defendants with substantial resources. Miami speeding crash lawyer Pedro P. Sotolongo has more than 20 years of personal injury experience, including five years practicing medical malpractice defense. That background gives our firm an understanding of both the legal and medical issues that can determine the outcome of a serious injury claim.
Because We Care® is our firm’s guiding principle. We take the time to understand how a crash happened, what injuries it caused, and how those injuries may affect your health, work, finances, and daily life.
Speeding Is More Than Exceeding the Posted Limit
Florida law does not define unlawful speeding solely as driving above a posted speed limit. Section 316.183 provides that a driver must not operate a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and potential hazards existing at the time. The statute also requires drivers to reduce their speed when approaching intersections, curves, hill crests, narrow or winding roads, and whenever special hazards exist because of pedestrians, traffic, weather, or roadway conditions.
This distinction can be important after a Miami car accident.
A driver may be traveling below the posted speed limit and still be driving too fast for the circumstances. For example, rain, poor visibility, heavy traffic, construction, pedestrians crossing the roadway, or a congested intersection may require a driver to reduce speed.
Conversely, a driver who is exceeding the posted limit may create hazards even when the road is clear. Speed affects the amount of time available to perceive a hazard and react appropriately. It also affects the distance required to stop and the forces involved when vehicles collide.
Excessive Speed Can Make a Crash More Severe
The severity of a collision depends on numerous factors, including the size and weight of the vehicles, the direction of impact, whether occupants were properly restrained, and the location of the impact. Speed can nevertheless be a significant factor.
A high-speed impact can produce substantial forces that cause traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, fractures, internal injuries, amputations, and other catastrophic conditions. Occupants may suffer injuries even when the vehicle’s exterior damage does not initially appear to explain the severity of their symptoms.
Speed can also affect the sequence of a crash. A speeding driver may have insufficient time to stop for a vehicle turning across the roadway, a pedestrian entering a crosswalk, traffic slowing ahead, or another unexpected hazard. A collision that might have been avoided by a driver traveling at an appropriate speed may become unavoidable when the driver is traveling too fast.
For injured people and their families, understanding the role speed played in the accident can therefore be an important part of investigating liability.
Florida’s Dangerous Excessive Speeding Law
Florida law specifically addresses dangerous excessive speeding. Under section 316.1922, a person commits dangerous excessive speeding by operating a motor vehicle 50 mph or more above the applicable speed limit, or by driving at 100 mph or more in a manner that threatens the safety of other people or property or interferes with the operation of another vehicle.
The statute provides criminal penalties for a conviction, including potential incarceration and fines, with increased penalties for subsequent offenses.
A speeding citation or criminal charge is not the same thing as a civil personal injury claim. The criminal proceeding addresses the driver’s violation of Florida law, while a personal injury case focuses on whether the driver’s conduct caused the injured person’s damages. Evidence of excessive speed can nevertheless be important in establishing what happened and why the collision occurred.
Investigating the Speed of a Vehicle After a Crash
Speed is not always obvious from the driver’s statement or the police report. A driver may claim to have been traveling at the speed limit, while physical evidence suggests otherwise.
Depending on the circumstances, an investigation may examine skid marks, vehicle damage, roadway evidence, photographs, surveillance video, traffic-camera footage, event data recorded by the vehicle, witness statements, and accident reconstruction evidence.
Modern vehicles contain electronic systems that record information relevant to a collision. Depending on the vehicle and circumstances, event data may provide information concerning factors such as vehicle speed, braking, acceleration, or other conditions immediately before a crash. Whether particular data exists and can be obtained depends on the vehicle and the circumstances of the collision.
An accident reconstruction expert may also be able to analyze physical evidence to determine how the collision occurred and estimate the speed or movement of the vehicles involved.
This type of evidence can become particularly important when the parties disagree about fault.
Speeding Can Combine With Other Dangerous Driving
Speeding rarely occurs in isolation. A driver may simultaneously be texting, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, changing lanes improperly, following another vehicle too closely, or disregarding a traffic signal.
Florida’s current traffic laws specifically define aggressive careless driving as committing two or more specified acts simultaneously or in succession. Those acts include exceeding the posted speed, unsafe lane changes, following too closely, failing to yield, improper passing, and violating traffic-control devices.
When several dangerous behaviors occur together, the investigation should examine the entire sequence of events rather than focusing on a single traffic violation.
For example, a driver traveling 20 miles per hour above the limit may have had time to stop if paying attention, while a driver who was simultaneously texting may have failed to perceive the hazard until it was too late. Similarly, a speeding driver who runs a red light presents a different factual scenario from someone who is traveling only slightly above the limit on an otherwise open roadway.
The evidence should establish what the driver actually did and how those actions contributed to the collision.
Serious Injuries Require a Full Medical Evaluation
A speeding crash can cause injuries that are not immediately obvious. Some symptoms may develop hours or days after a collision, while the full prognosis for a serious injury may not be clear until a patient undergoes additional testing and treatment.
An injured person may need emergency care, diagnostic imaging, surgery, physical therapy, rehabilitation, medication, or continuing specialist treatment. A serious injury can also interfere with employment and affect a person’s ability to perform ordinary activities.
When evaluating a personal injury claim, it is important to consider both the medical expenses already incurred and the potential consequences of the injury in the future. An injury that requires continuing treatment or results in permanent impairment may have a substantially different effect on a person’s life than an injury that resolves after a short period of treatment.
Pedro P. Sotolongo’s medical malpractice defense experience is particularly relevant when serious medical issues are involved. Before focusing his practice on personal injury representation, he spent five years defending medical malpractice cases. That work required him to understand not only legal issues but also the medicine underlying complicated claims.
Every lawyer knows the law. Not every lawyer understands the medicine.
That background helps Sotolongo Law communicate with physicians and medical experts, review medical records, understand diagnostic evidence, and evaluate questions involving treatment, causation, prognosis, and future medical needs.
Compensation for Injuries Caused by a Speeding Driver
When another driver’s speeding causes an accident, an injured person may be entitled to pursue compensation for damages resulting from the collision. Depending on the circumstances, those damages can include medical expenses, lost income, diminished future earning capacity, property damage, and compensation for the physical and emotional effects of an injury.
The appropriate damages depend on the individual circumstances of the case.
For someone who suffers a temporary injury, the claim may involve a relatively limited period of medical treatment and lost work. For someone who suffers a catastrophic injury, the financial consequences can extend for decades. Future medical care, rehabilitation, home modifications, assistive equipment, lost earning capacity, and the need for assistance with everyday activities may all become relevant.
A careful evaluation should therefore look beyond the initial emergency room bills and consider the long-term consequences of the injury.
Insurance Companies May Dispute the Role of Speed in Causing the Crash
A speeding crash may seem straightforward when the other driver was cited for speeding. Insurance companies may nevertheless investigate whether the driver was actually responsible for the collision and whether the claimed injuries were caused by the accident.
An insurer may dispute the severity of an injury, question the necessity of treatment, argue that symptoms resulted from a preexisting condition, or contend that another factor caused some portion of the claimed damages.
This dispute is one reason that evidence and medical documentation matter.
Sotolongo Law approaches serious injury claims with litigation in mind. We understand that an insurance company may evaluate a claim differently from the person who suffered the injury. Our role is to develop the evidence, understand the medical consequences, and pursue the compensation supported by the facts and applicable law.
Miami Roads Present a Range of Speed-Related Hazards
Miami drivers encounter everything from heavily traveled highways and major arterial roads to residential streets, commercial corridors, bridges, intersections, and areas with substantial pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Traffic conditions can change quickly.
A driver who is traveling too fast for the conditions may have difficulty responding when traffic suddenly stops, a vehicle changes lanes, a pedestrian enters the roadway, or another unexpected event occurs.
For people walking or bicycling, the consequences can be especially severe. Unlike occupants of a passenger vehicle, pedestrians and bicyclists have little physical protection in a collision with a speeding vehicle. A high-speed impact can cause catastrophic injuries even when the person struck survives.
Sotolongo Law represents injured people throughout Miami, including members of South Florida’s diverse Spanish-speaking Cuban, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, and Argentinian communities. We understand the importance of clear communication during a difficult period.
A Boutique Firm Prepared for Serious Cases
Pedro P. Sotolongo began his legal career practicing medical malpractice defense, developing experience analyzing complex medical evidence and working with physicians and experts. He subsequently brought that perspective to personal injury litigation, representing people rather than defendants and insurance companies.
Today, Sotolongo Law combines the personal attention of a small firm with a willingness to take on large insurance companies and powerful defendants. We prepare cases with the understanding that a serious claim may need to be litigated, while also pursuing negotiated resolutions when that serves the client’s interests.
Because We Care® means we do more than identify the legal issue. We want to understand the person behind the injury and the ways a crash has changed that person’s life.
Frequently Asked Questions About Speeding Crashes in Miami
What is considered speeding under Florida law?
Florida law prohibits driving at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under existing conditions and requires drivers to reduce speed when circumstances create special hazards. Drivers also may not exceed the applicable posted speed limit.
Can I still have an injury claim if the speeding driver was not ticketed?
Yes. A traffic citation is not required to pursue a civil personal injury claim. Evidence such as witness statements, vehicle data, photographs, video, physical evidence, and accident reconstruction may help establish that the driver’s speed or other conduct caused the collision.
What is dangerous excessive speeding in Florida?
Under Florida Statutes section 316.1922, dangerous excessive speeding includes driving 50 mph or more above the applicable speed limit or driving at 100 mph or more in a manner that threatens people or property or interferes with another vehicle’s operation.
What if I were speeding when a reckless driver hit me?
If your driving was considered negligent and a contributing factor to an accident or injury, it could reduce the amount of compensation you can recover, but it will not prevent you from bringing a claim so long as you are not considered more than 50% at fault. Your lawyer will work to prevent you from being unfairly blamed for causing a crash you were not responsible for.
Can I recover compensation for future medical treatment after a speeding crash?
Potentially. When an injury requires continuing treatment or is expected to cause future medical needs, those anticipated consequences may be relevant to the damages claimed. Medical evidence concerning prognosis and future care can be particularly important in serious injury cases.
Contact a Miami Speeding Crash Lawyer
If you or someone you love has been injured because another driver was speeding, Sotolongo Law can investigate the collision and help you understand your options. We examine the evidence surrounding the crash, work with medical professionals and other experts when appropriate, and pursue compensation for the full impact of your injuries.
Pedro P. Sotolongo has more than 20 years of personal injury experience, along with first-hand courtroom experience and five years of medical malpractice defense experience. That combination gives our firm an understanding of both the legal and medical dimensions of serious injury claims.
Contact Sotolongo Law today for a free consultation. We handle personal injury cases on a contingency-fee basis, so you do not pay an attorney’s fee unless we obtain a recovery for you. If you were injured in a speeding crash in Miami or elsewhere in South Florida, contact Sotolongo Law today. We are ready to listen, investigate, and pursue the compensation you may be entitled to receive. Because We Care®.