Florida leads the country in pedestrian fatalities by a significant margin, and Broward County consistently appears among the state’s most dangerous counties for people on foot. Coral Springs’s major arterials, University Drive, Sample Road, Coral Ridge Drive, and the stretches of State Road 7 that run through the city, carry vehicle traffic at speeds that make pedestrian crashes exceptionally dangerous. When those crashes happen, the instinct is to focus on the driver who struck the pedestrian. That focus is usually correct, but it is sometimes incomplete. The government entity responsible for the crossing design or signal timing, and in some cases a property owner whose landscaping or inadequate lighting reduced the driver’s ability to see an approaching pedestrian, may share legal responsibility for the outcome.
A pedestrian accident lawyer in Coral Springs examines the full liability picture from the beginning, because a case built only against the driver may miss defendants who contributed meaningfully to the crash and who carry their own financial responsibility for the harm.
How Florida Law Defines Driver Duty to Pedestrians
Florida Statutes Section 316.130 requires drivers to yield the right of way to pedestrians lawfully crossing within a marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Drivers must also exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on a roadway, give warning by sounding the horn when necessary, and take proper precautions when approaching a pedestrian who is confused or in danger. Violations of these statutory duties, when they cause a pedestrian injury or death, establish negligence per se: the violation is the breach, and the injured pedestrian belongs to the class of people the statute was designed to protect. Florida’s comparative fault framework still applies, but a per se negligence finding gives the pedestrian’s case a stronger foundation than a general negligence argument alone.
When the Government Entity That Designed the Crossing Is Also Responsible
Crosswalk design, signal timing, median placement, and signage are all decisions made by the government entity responsible for the road. When a pedestrian is struck at a crossing where inadequate signal time, a missing or faded crosswalk marking, or a confusing intersection design contributed to the crash, the city or county responsible for maintaining that infrastructure may bear independent liability alongside the driver. Claims against Florida government entities require a specific notice of claim within three years under Florida Statutes Section 768.28, but the specific timing and form of that notice varies by entity. Missing or incorrectly serving the notice can permanently bar the government entity claim regardless of how strong the underlying liability argument is.
The Evidence That Establishes What Happened
Pedestrian accident evidence is time-sensitive in ways that parallel other vehicle crash cases. Traffic signal camera footage, business surveillance systems along the corridor, and dashcam recordings from nearby vehicles all overwrite on their own schedules. Skid marks, debris fields, and physical evidence at the scene change as the road is cleaned and traffic resumes. The at-fault vehicle’s event data recorder captures pre-impact speed and braking status that directly addresses any argument that the driver took appropriate evasive action. In pedestrian cases where the driver claims the pedestrian appeared suddenly or was in a location where they could not be seen, this objective pre-crash data is often the most important evidence available.
Why Florida’s Reform Makes Pedestrian Claim Preparation More Urgent
Florida’s 2023 tort reform reduced the negligence statute of limitations to two years and introduced the 51 percent comparative fault bar that eliminates recovery when the pedestrian’s own fault exceeds the threshold. Insurers defending pedestrian claims in Broward County now have a stronger incentive to develop fault arguments against the pedestrian, because reaching 51 percent eliminates the claim rather than simply reducing it. Contributory conduct arguments, such as crossing outside a marked crosswalk, crossing against a pedestrian signal, or crossing while distracted by a device, become more valuable to the defense than they were before the reform. The Florida Department of Transportation’s pedestrian safety data for Broward County documents crossing crash concentrations and contributing factors that contextualize these arguments within the specific road environment where the crash occurred More Read