What to Do After a Truck Accident in Florida

The Stakes Are Different in a Truck Crash

A typical car-on-car collision involves one driver, one insurance policy, and a relatively predictable claims process. A truck crash is a different animal from the moment the wreckage stops moving. An 80,000-pound tractor-trailer striking a passenger vehicle produces injuries that are often catastrophic, evidence that is controlled almost entirely by the trucking company, and a defense response that begins within hours — frequently before the victim is out of the emergency room.

What you do (and what you do not do) in the first hours, days, and weeks after a Florida truck crash will shape your case more than almost anything that follows. This page walks through the actions in order, with the legal reasons behind each one.

Minutes 0 to 60 — At the Scene

The First 24 Hours — Medical Care and Notifications

Whether you went to the hospital from the scene or refused EMS transport, the next 24 hours matter for the same reason: documenting your injuries with a medical professional and starting the PIP clock running on the right foot.

If you went to the ER: Follow every discharge instruction. Get the discharge paperwork, the imaging results, and the list of prescribed medications. Schedule the follow-up appointment they recommended — do not skip it.

If you declined transport at the scene: See your primary care doctor or an urgent care that same day or the next morning. Tell them you were in a truck crash and want to be evaluated. Hidden injuries — concussions, hairline fractures, soft-tissue tears, internal bruising — often emerge over the next 24-72 hours.

Notify your own auto insurance carrier. Florida law and your own policy require timely notice of the crash. Stick to factual basics — date, time, location, vehicles, that you were injured. Avoid any conjecture about fault. Take down the claim number and the adjuster's name and phone.

The 14-Day PIP Rule — Why It Cannot Be Ignored

Florida is a no-fault auto insurance state. Every Florida driver carries at minimum $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage that pays for the policyholder's own medical bills and lost wages — regardless of who caused the crash — up to the policy limits. The PIP system works only if you comply with one strict rule.

Florida Statute § 627.736 — the 14-Day Rule. You must obtain initial medical care within 14 days of the motor vehicle accident to be eligible for PIP benefits. If you do not, you forfeit the benefits entirely — even if you later turn out to be severely injured. The 14-day clock starts on the day of the crash, runs continuously (no weekends excluded), and is enforced by every Florida PIP insurer.

What counts as "initial medical care"? An ER visit, an urgent-care visit, a primary-care office visit, or a chiropractor visit (in many circumstances) qualifies, as long as the provider documents that you sought care for crash-related symptoms. EMS transport that resulted in an ER evaluation counts.

"Emergency medical condition" determination. Within the first 14 days, a qualifying medical provider (MD, DO, dentist, ARNP, PA in certain cases) must determine whether you have an "emergency medical condition" — a specific term defined by FL § 395.002. If they document an emergency medical condition, you can access the full $10,000 PIP benefit. If they do not, you may be limited to $2,500. This documentation almost always emerges from a properly handled ER or follow-up visit; skipping the follow-up is what most often costs people the higher tier.

Days 2 to 7 — Evidence Preservation Begins

Within hours of a serious truck crash, the trucking company is doing the following things: dispatching defense counsel and accident reconstruction engineers to the scene before tow trucks finish clearing; downloading the truck's onboard data and taking custody of the tractor and trailer; reaching out to any witnesses they can locate; and beginning the routine retention cycle for ELD records, dashcam footage, and dispatch communications. Everything they touch is potentially evidence in your case, and most of it can be lawfully overwritten or modified before you ever speak to a lawyer.

The remedy is a formal spoliation letter from your attorney to the trucking company, the driver, the broker (if any), the shipper, the maintenance contractor, and any rental or leasing company involved. The letter creates a legal duty to preserve specifically enumerated categories of evidence — EDR/black box data, ELD records and edit history, dashcam footage, dispatch records, driver qualification file, drug and alcohol testing records, maintenance and inspection logs, cargo manifests, and any prior incident reports. Once the letter is delivered, destruction of the listed evidence exposes the recipient to court sanctions including adverse-inference jury instructions and (in serious cases) default judgment on liability.

Independent evidence preservation also belongs in this window: FDOT SunGuide traffic-camera footage from the corridor, SunPass toll-plaza records, exterior cameras from gas stations and businesses adjacent to the scene, and any witness statements that have not been locked in. For the full mechanics of preservation, see our guide on truck accident black box and ELD evidence.

What Not to Say (and to Whom)

The trucking company's adjuster — and sometimes counsel — will contact you in the first days after the crash. They sound friendly. They are not on your side. Their job is to extract statements that can be used to reduce or deny your claim.

• No recorded statements to the trucking company's insurer without your attorney present. You have no obligation to provide one.
• No medical authorizations handed over to anyone other than your own healthcare providers. Broad medical authorizations let the trucking insurer fish through unrelated medical history looking for "pre-existing conditions" to blame your injuries on.
• No social media posts about the crash, your injuries, your recovery, or your case. Trucking defense teams routinely monitor social media. Photos of you smiling at a family event become "proof" you weren't really hurt.
• No signed releases or settlements in the first weeks. Early settlement offers exist for one reason: closing out claims before the full extent of injuries is known. Florida law does not require you to settle quickly.
• No "as is" property damage settlements that include a global release of all claims. Be sure any property-damage release does not waive your bodily injury claim.

Your own insurer is in a different category — Florida law requires you to cooperate with your PIP carrier. But even there, redirect substantive questions about the crash details to your attorney once you are represented.

Days 7 to 30 — Treatment, Documentation, and Hiring Counsel

The first month is the foundation of your case. Three things matter:

• Follow your treatment plan. Attend every appointment, take every prescription, complete every imaging study, and follow the prescribed physical therapy. Gaps in treatment are the single most exploited weakness in personal injury cases. The trucking insurer's argument will be: "if you were really hurt, you would have gone back to the doctor."
• Document your symptoms in real time. Keep a brief daily log of pain levels, sleep disruption, work limitations, and activities you cannot do. This is the contemporaneous evidence that supports non-economic damages later.
• Hire an attorney experienced in Florida truck cases. Truck cases require federal regulatory knowledge (FMCSA, ELD, hours of service), commercial-insurance experience, and accident-reconstruction relationships that ordinary car-accident lawyers do not maintain. For more on this question, see our guide on whether you need a lawyer for a Florida truck accident.

HOV Law offers free, confidential consultations from our downtown Orlando office at 135 W Central Blvd. There is no cost to talk and no fee unless we recover for you. Call (407) 801-0101 — available 24/7.

Florida Statute of Limitations — Why This Whole Timeline Matters

Florida Statute § 95.11(3) gives you 2 years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit (reduced from 4 years by HB 837 in 2023). For wrongful death under FL § 95.11(4)(e), the 2-year clock runs from the date of death.

Two years sounds like a long time. It is not, because the meaningful evidence preservation, treatment documentation, and demand-letter development all need to happen well inside that window. Cases that wait until month 23 to engage counsel are often unsalvageable because the supporting evidence has long since been destroyed. For the full statute-of-limitations framework, see our guide on the Florida truck accident statute of limitations.

After a Truck Accident in Florida — FAQ