http://www.727injury.com (727) 381-2300 St Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas

Hello and welcome to my 2020 update about car accident law. Here in Florida, the main issue that's going on, again, it's February 14th, Valentine's day 2020. The biggest issue right now is in Tallahassee, Florida, and it has to do with the repeal of the PIP system. Currently under Florida law, if you're watching this video, you may be aware every motorist is required to have a PIP or no fault insurance that pays for up to $10,000 of your medical bills and lost wages. After an accident, regardless of whether you caused the accident while the system is, it's been around since the 70s, it's outdated. It does not work well. Our drivers here in Florida are spending hundreds of dollars a year for PIP insurance where their maximum benefit is $10,000 minus any deductible. It's just not a good system. And so over the past few years, there have been multiple attempts to repeal that, the PIP system and replace it with something.

Uh, this year we thought for sure it was going to get done, but the, the new bill has hit a snag. Uh, and the proposed bill is that every driver is to be offered a $5,000 med pay, you know, have to have it, but it's offered and that will cover your medical bills up to $5,000. Again, regardless of faults, similar to PIP, but again, it's optional, but what is required, um, now that has not been required before is a 25 slash $50,000 policy for bodily injury coverage. So if somebody, uh, if you injure someone, you are protected in the amount of 25, uh, per person or 50,000 per accident. And that's required. Most States have that. But we, uh, here in Florida, we, we do not, uh, and it's, uh, it's a major problem because in reality, uh, without a mandatory BI policy, most of the bad drivers, the ones that are going around and causing these accidents, they don't buy it.

And so they hit you in a car accident, they injure you, and then they don't have any type of coverage for you to pursue for your injuries. So it's a ridiculous system that needs to be changed. But as I mentioned, the bill that has been moving through the Senate right now has hit a snag because, uh, one of the senators, it's a Jeff brand is here of, uh, st Petersburg, uh, apparently is trying to cap the, um, ability of, of people to hold insurance companies in check. Uh, it's called the bad faith provision of this bill. And basically it was true, it was stuck in the, uh, in this bill at the last, and it's caused everything to, uh, to, to halt. So it doesn't look like PIP will be replaced this year, unfortunately, because again, from my car accident clients having a mandatory BI system that also you're allowed to keep an insurance company in check.

That's really an attractive thing. It's good for people. It's good for the customer base, um, uh, and the citizens and it's, it'll be cheaper at the end of the day. So that's the, that's the one big thing that's going on. Another, um, a big change as far as car accidents and, and, uh, and, and the law there is that is the texting while driving bill has started. So the big, uh, the big change with texting while driving is now you cannot have a phone in your hand up to your ear at all in a school zones or construction zones. And we're starting to see people calling us who have been cited, uh, for talking on a phone through a school zone. So it's, it's, it's happening. Uh, the other issues with the other law with texting while driving, obviously you can't text while you drive unless you're stopped at, uh, somehow stopped.

*The above has been transcribed by a third party service and has not been checked for accuracy

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