Speeding Accidents in Tampa, FL

Were you injured in a speeding accident in Tampa, Florida? You may be unsure where to turn for help. 

Our experienced car accident lawyers at Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers have over 75 years of combined experience helping victims of speeding accidents in Tampa, FL. We can help you fight to recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. 

We’ve already recovered hundreds of millions in compensation for accident victims in the Tampa Bay area. Contact our law offices in Tampa, Florida at (813) 686-7588 for a free consultation to learn more about your legal rights and options.

How Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After a Speeding Accident in Tampa

It happens all the time: you were hurt in a car accident and suspect that the other driver was speeding. But how do you prove it? The other driver won’t want to take the blame. Without evidence, the insurance company will try to pay less than you deserve.

An experienced Tampa personal injury lawyer can help. When you choose Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers, you won’t have to worry about the fine details of your injury claim. Instead, you can focus on recovering. 

Our team in Tampa, FL, will take over every aspect of your case, including:

  • Investigating to prove that speed played a role in your accident
  • Working with experts to make sure we have the best evidence to support your claim
  • Consulting specialists to assess the fair value of your case
  • Find out whether something other than the speeding driver contributed to the crash
  • Demand fair compensation from all responsible parties

We’ve been handling complex personal injury cases across the Tampa Bay area since 1996. Our Tampa personal injury attorneys will handle all negotiations with the insurance company–with the primary goal of maximizing your financial recovery.

People are hurt in speeding accidents every day. That doesn’t make these cases any less complex. Call today for a free consultation to get the legal advice you deserve.

How Common Are Speeding Accidents in Tampa?

How Common Are Speeding Accidents in Tampa?

In 2019, high speeds were a factor in 26% of all fatal car wrecks across the United States. About 9,478 lost their lives in speeding accidents in that single year.

Florida Highway Patrol reported 3,329 fatal motor vehicle accidents in 2020. Using the national data on speeding, speed may have played a role in approximately 866 (26%) fatal motor vehicle accidents in Florida–including 55 fatal crashes in Hillsborough County alone.

What is My Tampa Speeding Accident Case Worth?

Injuries tend to be more serious in accidents involving high speeds. Serious injuries tend to lead to higher settlements and verdicts. Even so, it’s impossible to put an exact dollar value on your claim without knowing the facts.

Factors that tend to lead to higher settlements:

  • Your injuries were severe or permanent
  • You had to miss significant time from work
  • You required extensive and painful medical treatment
  • The injury had a considerable impact on your daily life
  • The accident and injury were emotionally traumatic

If the other driver was clearly responsible for the crash, that could also help you recover a higher settlement award.

Determining the fair value of your speeding accident case is a balancing act. The lawyers and insurance companies will weigh all of the factors to come up with a dollar amount. Certain damages, like pain and suffering, can be especially difficult to calculate. Your lawyer’s skill is important when fighting to get everything you deserve.

What Types of Damages Are Available to Speeding Accident Victims?

You want to make sure you’re recovering the full range of damages available in your speeding accident case. After all, you only have one chance to get the fair compensation you deserve.

Florida personal injury laws allow speeding accident victims to recover two primary types of damages: economic damages and non-economic damages.

Economic damages are those with a clear monetary value. These types of compensation can usually be substantiated with receipts and medical records. 

Examples of economic damages include:

Non-economic damages can be harder to quantify but are equally important to your overall settlement award. 

They include things like:

If the speeding driver’s actions were intentional or highly reckless, punitive damages may be available. Florida courts rarely award punitive damages–because they’re designed to punish the defendant for bad behavior rather than compensate the victim of an unintentional accident.

Can I Recover Damages If I’m Being Blamed for a Speeding Accident in Florida?

Speed isn’t the only factor that can cause a crash. Multiple parties can be held responsible for the same accident–including the injured party.

However, you’re not automatically barred from recovering compensation if your actions also contributed to the speeding accident – unless your share of fault exceeds 50%. Florida’s modified comparative fault rules will adjust your compensation award to account for your proportionate share of fault if you share 50% or less of the blame.

For example, if you have $90,000 in damages but are 10% at fault, you will only recover $81,000 (90%). If you’re 51% at fault, you cannot recover anything.

Remember that fault can only be allocated once you have the evidence to back up your claim. You don’t have to rely on the insurance company’s opinion about what happened. 

Our lawyers at Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers can help you fight to limit the impact of shared fault. We can challenge the insurance company’s portrayal of the facts and point to our own evidence to minimize your role in the crash.  

We’ll Fight to Recover Compensation for All of Your Speeding Accident Injuries

Injuries sustained in an accident can be much more severe when excessive speeds are involved. 

At Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers, we handle all speeding accident cases in Tampa, including those involving:

Were you injured in a speeding accident in Tampa, FL? Don’t hesitate to call our law firm to learn more about your legal right to compensation.

Why Do High Speeds Cause So Many Accidents in Tampa, Florida?

Speed is a contributing factor in many accidents.

When a driver speeds:

  • The driver has less time to react to changing conditions and traffic patterns
  • It takes a longer time for the car to come to a stop
  • There’s a greater chance that the driver might lose control of the vehicle
  • The tire’s grip on the roads may be less effective, especially on slick pavement
  • Airbags, seatbelts, and other safety features might not work as intended in a crash

Tampa imposes a speed limit on every road for a reason.

Before posting speed limit signs, government authorities consider any number of factors–including:

  • The neighborhood
  • The number of lanes headed in each direction
  • Whether the road has twists and turns
  • Whether the road is near a school 

That’s why speed limits are lower on curved streets or in residential areas where bicyclists and pedestrians may be sharing the roads. Speeds are also lower on particularly dangerous roads, like the Courtney Campbell Causeway. 

However, it’s important to remember that driving well below the speed limit can also be dangerous. That’s why many roads in Tampa also have minimum posted speed limits.

How Do I Prove Negligence After a Speeding Accident in Florida? 

Legally speaking, accident victims have the burden of proving four key elements of negligence, including:

But how can you show that the driver’s excessive speeds caused your accident? Our Tampa car accident attorneys at Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers can help you locate the evidence you need to prove negligence.

When you hire our legal team, you can rest assured that we’ll:

  • Locate and analyze any video surveillance footage of the accident
  • Work with accident reconstruction specialists who can analyze skid marks, debris, and other evidence to prove speed played a role in the crash
  • Review police and accident reports
  • Interview eyewitnesses
  • Analyze the damage to your motor vehicle

We can even find out whether the police ticketed the at-fault driver for speeding. With this evidence in hand, we’ll have the tools to build your negligence claim. 

How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit After a Speeding Accident in Florida?

In Florida, speeding accident victims generally have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit. Victims used to have four years to file under Florida law, but it was revised on March 24, 2023. If your Tampa speeding accident occurred after that time, you have two years to act.

This statute of limitations is a hard and fast rule. Once the two-year period is over, you’ll lose your right to compensation.

Keep in mind that insurance companies will want you to file a claim as soon as possible after an accident.

Contact a Tampa Car Wreck Attorney Today for a Free Consultation

Did someone else’s reckless speeding leave you suffering from painful injuries? Contact a car accident attorney with experience handling speeding accidents in Tampa, FL, for a free consultation today. At Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers, your initial consultation is always free–so don’t hesitate to give us a call today.

Other Car Accident Claims We Cover

At Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers, we handle all types of car accident claims in Tampa, including:

Additional Car Accident Resources and Information