The no-fault insurance for motor vehicles allows that there is “no-fault” when it comes to paying out an auto insurance claim following a car accident under a certain amount. Instead, drivers are required to carry personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, which extends payment for any medical expenses and certain non-medical costs associated with the crash, such as lost wages or replacement benefits (i.e., having someone come help you clean your house while you are unable to do so). All Florida drivers are required to carry a minimum level of PIP benefits in addition to liability insurance requirements. Then if they are involved in a crash, they file a claim with their own auto insurer. The only way they can pursue a claim outside that no-fault system is if the injuries are considered permanent or permanently disfiguring/ scarring or if there is some significant or total loss of an important bodily function. Drivers have to carry at least $10,000 in PIP benefits.

Legislators have decided that in the spring, they will mull a proposal to scrap the no-fault insurance law that has been followed in the state since the 1970s.

The intended purpose of PIP was to offer a base-level of support – particularly for medical expenses – for people who were injured in a Florida car accident, no matter who was at-fault.

However, costs of insurance in recent years have soared, even in the face of state-level reforms passed five years ago to help cushion the added expenses the insurance industry attributes to fraud. Although those measures did reduce the PIP rates by about 14.5 percent between 2013 and 2014, they have unfortunately risen nearly 26 percent between 2015 and 2016.

Industry insiders say there are several reasons for this, including:

• Higher costs for medical treatment.
• Drivers who are traveling greater distances/ more miles on average.
• More motor vehicle crashes.

Drivers in Florida pay the fifth-highest monthly premiums for auto insurance in the country, according to the Office of Insurance Regulation.

The proposed bill to end no-fault insurance in the Sunshine State was introduced by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, who asserts that by moving from a no-fault state to a tort state, the onus to cover the cost of treatment and/or property damage would fall on the driver who was to blame for the crash. Of the 38 tort states, all except one also requires drivers to purchase bodily injury liability insurance. There are some raising questions about how much voters are actually going to save when they have to turn around and buy this other type of coverage. Some of those pushing for repeal want to require drivers to purchase a minimum of $25,000 in bodily injury coverage per persona and $50,000 per occurrence.

Health care organizations urge lawmakers not to repeal, arguing PIP is essential to some 2.6 million residents who don’t have health insurance, should they be involved in a motor vehicle accident.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Lawmakers to weigh costs, benefits of no-fault insurance repeal, Jan. 24, 2017, By Ron Hurtibise, Sun Sentinel

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Florida Most Dangerous Place for Pedestrians, Analysis Shows, Jan. 21, 2017, Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer Blog

There is of course the growing element of distraction now that most every driver has access to their own person computer at all times via their smart phone. But there is something else going on, researchers say.

We are now at the tail end of what has been one of the longest roads to economic recovery since the end of WW II. The labor market has improved. Unemployment is down. So are gas prices. This has meant people have more money in their pocket. More freedom to take a trip. More incentive to take a private vehicle rather than opt for public transportation or bicycling. In turn, there are more vehicles on the road and a higher likelihood of traffic deaths.more

That’s the theory posed by researchers at Texas A&M University, where professors at the school’s Health Science Center School of Public Health have studied the issue extensively. Researchers say they are still combing through the data, but note that in 2015, gas prices dropped more than $1 per gallon in many areas. When that happens, for every $1 decrease in the cost of a gallon of gas, there is an 11 percent spike in national roadway deaths.

The groups primarily affected by this? Young drivers under the age of 24. Most commonly, it affects drivers between the ages of 18 to 24. Researchers think the reason for this has to do with the fact that they generally have less disposable income, so they are more directly affected when the gas prices start falling. They are more likely to alter their driving habits to a price drop or increase.

Another correlative relationship the study authors have found is between unemployment rate and traffic deaths. Our Broward injury lawyers understand that for every one percentage point decrease in the overall unemployment rate, there is a 9 percent increase in the national number of motor vehicle deaths.

What that tells us is the reported increase in deaths on the road that were reported in South Florida in the middle of last year likely weren’t some kind of odd fluke. What’s worse is that it’s probably only going to continue.

The researchers say it is entirely plausible that the national traffic fatality statistics for 2016 could end up being more than 20 percent higher than they were last year.

There are some factors that could work in our favor, though. For example, cars are increasingly being designed with improved safety features, including things like electronic stability control, rear view cameras and sensors and collision-avoidance technology. Other studies have shown drivers of newer model vehicles suffer fewer fatalities when involved in traffic crashes than those in older cars. Those older cars are going to become less common and technology is only going to get better.

Still, human error remains the No. 1 cause of traffic deaths. By remaining alert, sober and cautious, every single driver can help to curb this problem.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

How the economy affects traffic fatalities, Jan. 21, 2016, Science Daily

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Uber Lawsuit Filed as Miami Considers Driver Screenings, Feb. 2, 2016, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer Blog