What is the deadline to file a bicycle accident claim in Florida?

Florida law sets the statute of limitations for personal injury claims at two years from the date of injury. This deadline was shortened from four years when the Florida Legislature amended the statute in 2023, and it applies to causes of action arising after that change took effect. Missing the deadline generally forecloses the right to pursue compensation entirely, regardless of how strong the underlying evidence may be.

What if I was partially at fault for the bicycle accident?

Florida follows a modified comparative fault rule, which means partial fault on your part does not automatically eliminate your right to recover. However, if you are found to be more than 50 percent responsible, you are barred from collecting damages. Below that threshold, your recovery is reduced in proportion to your assigned share of fault, which is exactly why insurers work so hard to push that number up.

What if the driver who hit me was uninsured?

A significant number of drivers on South Florida roads carry no liability insurance or limits that fall well short of the costs of a serious bicycle accident. If the at-fault driver was uninsured or underinsured, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may provide a source of recovery. Feingold, Posner & Draizin reviews every available coverage source at the start of each case to make sure nothing is overlooked.

How long does a bicycle accident case typically take to resolve?

In cases where liability is clear and injuries are well documented, a negotiated resolution can sometimes be reached within several months. Cases involving disputed fault, severe injuries, or government defendants often take a year or longer. One factor that consistently affects timing is reaching maximum medical improvement, because settling before that point can make it harder to fully evaluate the long-term impact of your injuries.

Do I need to go to court to resolve my bicycle accident claim?

Most bicycle accident claims in Florida resolve through a negotiated settlement before trial. When liability is clear and damages are well documented, insurers often prefer a negotiated outcome to the unpredictability of courtroom proceedings. That said, Feingold, Posner & Draizin prepares every case as though it will go to trial, which strengthens the firm's negotiating position and signals to the insurer that walking away from a fair offer carries real consequences.

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Your Bicycle Injury Attorney in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Understands How the Insurance Industry Works From the Inside Out

Fort Lauderdale draws cyclists year-round, from daily commuters cutting through Broward County's busy corridors to recreational riders exploring the coastal paths along A1A. When a crash happens, a Fort Lauderdale bicycle accident lawyer can make the difference between a settlement that barely covers your emergency room bill and a recovery that reflects the true cost of what you have been through. The same road network that makes this city appealing for cyclists also puts riders in regular contact with distracted drivers, commercial vehicles, and neglected infrastructure, and when those factors combine, the injuries that follow are rarely minor.

At Feingold, Posner & Draizin, every attorney on your case has spent significant time inside the insurance industry, learning firsthand how carriers evaluate, dispute, and minimize claims like yours. Craig Posner spent years as a defense attorney for a national auto insurance company. Eric Feingold served as counsel for a national health insurance company after building his litigation foundation as a public defender in the Miami-Dade justice system. Aaron Draizin was a shareholder at one of Florida's most prominent statewide insurance defense firms, where he developed the strategies that carriers still deploy today.

Contact Feingold, Posner & Draizin today at 954-953-5861 or through our online contact form to schedule your free consultation.

Types of Bicycle Accident Cases Feingold, Posner & Draizin Handles in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Bicycle accidents in Fort Lauderdale arise from a wide range of circumstances, and the type of collision often determines who can be held liable and what sources of compensation are available. As a bicycle injury attorney in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Feingold, Posner & Draizin handles the full spectrum of these claims, including cases involving multiple defendants and complex insurance coverage questions.

Dooring Accidents

Driver dooring: A driver or passenger opens a vehicle door directly into a cyclist's path, leaving no time to stop or swerve.
Parked vehicle dooring: Common on Fort Lauderdale's busier commercial streets where parallel parking and active bike lanes share the same corridor.
Liability: The person who opened the door is typically at fault under Florida law, though road design and signage deficiencies can introduce additional defendants.

Intersection and Right-of-Way Collisions

Failure to yield: Drivers turning left or right across a bike lane frequently misjudge or disregard a cyclist's right of way.
Red light and stop sign violations: Cyclists entering an intersection on a green signal are particularly vulnerable to drivers running opposing signals.
T-bone impacts: These side-impact collisions often produce severe injuries due to the direct, unprotected contact between the rider and the vehicle.

Rear-End and Sideswipe Accidents

Rear-end collisions: Often caused by distracted or speeding drivers who fail to see a cyclist ahead in time to stop.
Sideswipe accidents: Drivers who pass too closely or drift into a bike lane without checking mirrors create serious contact risks, even at moderate speeds.
Hit and run: Fort Lauderdale sees a notable number of hit-and-run bicycle accidents, which require a different investigative and insurance strategy to pursue compensation.

Road Defect and Hazard Claims

Crumbling pavement and potholes: Surface conditions that would be minor inconveniences for a car can throw a cyclist entirely.
Unmarked construction zones: Temporary changes to road layout that eliminate bike lanes or create unexpected drop-offs frequently go without adequate warning.
Government liability: When a road defect is the cause, Florida law imposes specific notice requirements and shorter filing windows that begin running immediately.

Commercial and Rideshare Vehicle Accidents

Delivery vehicle collisions: Drivers making stops in bike lanes or pulling out from loading areas without checking are a frequent source of Fort Lauderdale bicycle accidents.
Rideshare accidents: Uber and Lyft drivers stopping suddenly to pick up or drop off passengers create hazards in lanes that cyclists depend on.
Truck accidents: Collisions involving commercial trucks are among the most catastrophic bicycle accidents given the weight disparity and limited driver visibility.

Whether your case involves a single negligent driver or a chain of responsible parties, Feingold, Posner & Draizin investigates every available avenue of liability and pursues a recovery that accounts for the full, long-term cost of your injuries.

Common Injuries in Fort Lauderdale Bicycle Accident Cases

Bicycle accident injuries are routinely more serious than the scene initially suggests. Adrenaline suppresses pain at the moment of impact, and many of the most consequential injuries produce no immediate visible symptoms. Insurance adjusters are trained to reach injured victims during that early window precisely because the full picture has not yet come into focus.

Traumatic brain injuries: Even when a helmet is worn, the force of a cycling collision can cause concussions, internal hemorrhaging, or lasting neurological damage affecting memory, cognition, and emotional regulation.
Spinal cord injuries: Contact with a vehicle or road surface at speed can fracture vertebrae or damage the spinal cord, with outcomes ranging from chronic pain to permanent paralysis.
Fractures and orthopedic trauma: Broken wrists, clavicles, arms, and legs are common when riders are thrown from their bikes or brace instinctively for impact.
Soft tissue damage: Torn ligaments, tendon injuries, and whiplash may not appear on initial imaging but produce chronic pain and restricted mobility that affect daily function and the ability to work.
Road rash and permanent scarring: Deep abrasions that damage the dermis can result in permanent disfigurement, which is treated as a separate and compensable category of harm under Florida law.
Psychological injury: Post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression following a serious accident are recognized medical conditions that are recoverable as damages in Florida.

Feingold, Posner & Draizin works alongside medical professionals to document every injury thoroughly, connecting each diagnosis to the accident and capturing both the immediate and long-term cost of your recovery.

Steps to Take After a Bicycle Accident in Fort Lauderdale

The hours and days immediately following a bicycle accident matter more than most injury victims realize. Evidence disappears quickly, witnesses disperse, and the at-fault driver's insurer begins building its version of events long before most people think to consult an attorney. The steps you take during that early period either protect or weaken your position.

Seek medical attention immediately: Many serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and internal soft tissue damage, do not produce obvious symptoms at the scene. A prompt medical visit creates documentation that ties your injuries to the crash before any gaps can be exploited.
Report the accident to law enforcement: An official police report establishes the basic facts of the collision and gives your attorney a documented foundation to build on.
Document everything at the scene: Photographs of road conditions, the vehicles involved, your bicycle, your visible injuries, and the surrounding environment preserve evidence that may no longer exist once the scene is cleared.
Collect witness contact information: Anyone who observed the collision should be identified before they leave. Independent witness accounts carry significant weight when fault is disputed.
Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer: Adjusters request these statements to generate material they can use to establish partial fault or challenge your credibility. You are not legally obligated to provide one.
Contact Feingold, Posner & Draizin before agreeing to anything: Early involvement by a Fort Lauderdale bicycle accident lawyer can help protect your position and avoid mistakes that may affect your claim later.

How Insurance Companies Undervalue Fort Lauderdale Bicycle Accident Claims

When an insurer receives a bicycle accident claim, the adjuster's primary objective is to close the file for as little as the evidence compels. Feingold, Posner & Draizin's attorneys have worked inside that process, and they understand the playbook at a level most plaintiff firms simply do not have access to.

The early settlement offer: Reaching injured cyclists within days of the accident with a figure that sounds reasonable is a deliberate tactic. It almost always undervalues the full cost of the injuries, and a signed release permanently forecloses any further recovery.
Recorded statement requests: These calls are not routine administrative steps. They are structured interviews designed to elicit inconsistencies or admissions that reduce the insurer's liability.
Disputing injury causation: Soft tissue injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and psychological harm often do not appear on initial imaging, giving adjusters room to argue conditions are pre-existing or unrelated to the crash.
Comparative fault arguments: Florida's modified comparative fault rules give insurers a direct financial incentive to push the cyclist's share of fault as high as possible. Every percentage point assigned to the rider reduces the payout proportionally.
Strategic delays: Dragging a claim out over months puts financial pressure on injured victims and erodes their resolve to hold out for a fair outcome. Delay is a tactic, not an inconvenience.

Feingold, Posner & Draizin has spent years working on both sides of these negotiations. Our attorneys’ insurance defense backgrounds help them anticipate and respond to the strategies insurers use during negotiations.

Why Choose Feingold, Posner & Drazin as Your Fort Lauderdale Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Fort Lauderdale is a competitive legal market, and injured cyclists have no shortage of personal injury firms to call. What distinguishes Feingold, Posner & Draizin is the depth and direction of each attorney's background before they committed to representing the injured.

Craig Posner, Former Insurance Defense Attorney Craig spent years as a defense attorney for a nationally known auto insurance company. He knows how carriers evaluate evidence, assign fault, and decide what a claim is worth before making an offer, and he uses that knowledge to benefit his clients now.

Eric Feingold, Former Public Defender and Insurance Counsel Eric began his career as a public defender in the Miami-Dade justice system, building the courtroom foundation that plaintiff work demands. He then served as counsel for a national health insurance company, adding the internal insurance perspective that most attorneys never have.

Aaron Draizin, Former Insurance Defense Shareholder and AV Preeminent Rated Aaron was a shareholder at one of Florida's prominent statewide insurance defense firms, where he gained firsthand insight into the strategies carriers use in bicycle accident claims. He has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for five consecutive years and holds an AV Preeminent peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest recognition that organization awards.

What Every Client Gets

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About Bicycle Accidents in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Fort Lauderdale's roads present real and recurring hazards for cyclists, and certain corridors see more than their share of collisions.

A1A and the Coastal Corridor: The oceanside boulevard draws recreational riders from across Broward County, but it also carries heavy seasonal traffic that does not always yield to cyclists sharing the lane. Conflicts between vehicles and riders on this stretch are a consistent source of serious injury claims throughout the area.

Las Olas Boulevard: This busy stretch mixes bikes with pedestrians, delivery vehicles, and tourist traffic in a compressed environment. The combination of high foot traffic, frequent vehicle stops, and limited lane separation makes this one of the city's more dangerous cycling corridors.

Sunrise Boulevard and Federal Highway: These major arterials move commuters at speeds that leave little margin for error. Distracted driving in these corridors is a consistent factor in serious bicycle accident cases handled by a bicycle injury attorney in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Fort Lauderdale has expanded its cycling infrastructure in recent years, but bike lanes still end without warning, pavement conditions vary sharply across neighborhoods, and many drivers do not recognize cyclists' legal rights under Florida law. Feingold, Posner & Draizin has represented injured cyclists throughout this area and understands both where these crashes happen and how Broward County courts approach the liability questions they raise. When road conditions and driver errors result in a crash, the bicycle injury attorney at this firm in Fort Lauderdale, FL, is prepared to hold every responsible party accountable.

Contact the Experienced Fort Lauderdale Bicycle Accident Lawyer at Feingold, Posner & Draizin for a Free Case Evaluation

A bicycle accident changes your life quickly, and the financial, physical, and emotional pressure that follows does not let up. The insurer on the other side of your claim begins working to minimize its exposure the moment it receives your file, and having a Fort Lauderdale bicycle accident lawyer who has worked inside that system is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your right to pursue compensation.

Feingold, Posner & Draizin will review the facts of your case, explain your rights under Florida law, and give you an honest assessment of what your claim may be worth. There is no obligation, no upfront fee, and no cost unless compensation is recovered. Call 954-953-5861 today or complete our online contact form to get started.

Fort Lauderdale Bicycle Accident Lawyer