Every spring, Fort Lauderdale fills up. The beach, A1A, and Las Olas Boulevard turn into a wall of people, cars, scooters, and rideshare pickups, day and night. It is good for business, but I see the other side of it too — the spike in injuries that comes with it.
I have practiced personal-injury law in Broward County for more than 40 years, and the spring-break weeks bring a predictable jump in pedestrian crashes, drunk-driving wrecks, rideshare collisions near the airport, and injuries inside bars and clubs. Whether you live here or you came to visit, you have rights when someone else’s carelessness gets you hurt. Here is what to do.
Why the Crowd Means More Crashes
Put tens of thousands of extra people into a few square miles, add alcohol, late nights, and out-of-town drivers who do not know the roads, and the math is not complicated. The cases I see most during this stretch fall into a handful of buckets:
- People on foot getting hit. A1A and the beach strip turn into a sea of pedestrians crossing mid-block, stepping off curbs, and walking home after a long night. Drivers who are distracted, speeding, or drinking cause serious harm fast.
- Drunk-driving crashes. More bars open later and more visitors drive when they should not. A driver coming home from Las Olas at 2 a.m. is a danger to everyone on the road.
- Rideshare wrecks. With so many people leaving their cars parked, app-based pickups near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the beach explode. More trips means more collisions, both for passengers and for the cars around them.
- Injuries inside nightlife spots. Crowded floors, wet tile, broken steps, over-served patrons, and thin security lead to falls, fights, and assaults that the property may be responsible for.
The injuries are real ones — broken bones, head injuries, back and neck damage that does not show up for days. If you were hurt anywhere in town, our team that handles cases across Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding beach communities can walk you through your options.
Hit While Walking: What Florida Law Says
Pedestrian cases are some of the most serious I handle, because a person on foot has nothing to protect them. Here is a piece of Florida law that surprises people: Florida’s no-fault system, called Personal Injury Protection or PIP, can apply even when you were walking, not driving.
Under Section 627.736, Florida Statutes, if you own a car with the required PIP coverage and you are struck as a pedestrian, your own auto policy is generally the first place you turn for early medical bills — even though you were not in the vehicle. That same law contains the rule that trips up the most people: you generally must get medical treatment within 14 days of the accident, or PIP can refuse to pay. After a night out, it is tempting to “shake it off” and see how you feel. Do not. Get checked, and do it quickly.
PIP only goes so far, though. When injuries are serious and permanent, Florida law at Section 627.737, Florida Statutes lets you step outside the no-fault system and bring a claim directly against the driver who hit you, including for your pain and suffering. Our pedestrian accident attorneys can tell you whether your injuries clear that threshold.
One more thing for visitors: if you do not own a Florida car, you are not out of luck. You may have coverage through your own auto policy from back home, and you can pursue the at-fault driver and that driver’s insurance. The path is different, but you still have rights.
Rideshare Wrecks Near the Beach and the Airport
Calling an app to get home is the smart, responsible move when you have been drinking. But rideshare crashes carry their own rules, and the coverage depends on what the driver’s app was doing at the exact moment of the wreck.
Florida regulates these companies under Section 627.748, Florida Statutes. In plain terms, the insurance that applies changes by phase:
- App off. If the driver was not logged in, only their personal auto insurance applies.
- App on, waiting for a ride. A lower layer of company coverage kicks in while the driver is available but has not accepted a trip.
- On the way to you or carrying a passenger. Once a ride is accepted and during the trip, the company is required to carry a much larger commercial policy — one million dollars in coverage for injuries.
This is why the details matter so much. Whether you were the passenger, a pedestrian, or in another car, figuring out which phase the driver was in — and getting the trip records before they are buried — can be the difference between a small policy and a large one. Our rideshare accident lawyers know how to pull those records and find every policy that should be paying.
Getting Hurt at a Bar, Club, or Hotel
Not every spring-break injury happens on the road. A lot happen inside the places people are partying. Florida law gives you rights there too, but the rules are specific.
If you slip and fall in a business — a spilled drink on a club floor, a wet pool deck, a broken stair — Florida law at Section 768.0755, Florida Statutes generally requires you to show the business knew, or should have known, about the dangerous condition and failed to fix it. That sounds simple, but proving how long a hazard sat there usually depends on video and witnesses that vanish fast. Acting quickly is everything.
Assaults are a different and harder situation. If you were attacked at a venue that had inadequate security — too few guards, broken lighting, a known history of violence that was ignored — the property may share responsibility. Florida added a law in 2023, Section 768.0706, Florida Statutes, that gives certain apartment owners a presumption against liability when they put specific security measures in place, which makes these claims more complicated than they used to be. Either way, fall or assault, our premises liability team can tell you whether the owner can be held accountable.
Two Deadlines That Cannot Wait — Especially for Visitors
Here is the part I want every spring-break visitor to hear, because it is the trap I watch people fall into year after year.
First, the legal deadline is shorter than it used to be. Because of a 2023 law called House Bill 837, the time limit to file most injury lawsuits in Florida was cut from four years to two years, written into Section 95.11(4)(a), Florida Statutes as amended. The same law changed how blame is shared: under Section 768.81, Florida Statutes, Florida now follows a modified comparative negligence rule with a 51% bar — meaning if you are found to be more than half at fault for your own injuries, you recover nothing, and if you are partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your share.
Second, and just as important, evidence disappears in days, not years. Bar and traffic-camera video often gets erased within weeks unless someone formally demands it be kept. Witnesses who saw the crash on A1A scatter back to a dozen different states by the end of the week.
That second problem is far worse when the people involved are tourists. If you were hit by a visitor who flies home on Sunday, or you are the visitor heading home yourself, tracking down the driver, the witnesses, and the right insurance gets much harder once everyone has left the state. The sooner we get involved, the more we can lock down — preservation letters for video, statements from witnesses while they are still in town, and a clear record before memories fade and people scatter.
What to Do Right After a Spring-Break Injury
You do not need to have everything figured out to protect yourself. A few simple steps make a real difference:
- Get medical care right away — both for your health and to meet that 14-day PIP rule.
- Call the police and make sure a report is made, whether it is a crash or an assault.
- Take photos and video of the scene, the vehicles, the hazard, your injuries, and anything else before it changes.
- Get names and phone numbers of every witness, especially out-of-towners who will be gone soon. A screenshot of a contact is worth a lot later.
- Save your rideshare trip details in the app if a pickup was involved.
- Be careful about recorded statements to any insurance company before you have talked to a lawyer.
- Call a lawyer quickly, especially if anyone involved is from out of state.
None of this commits you to a lawsuit. It simply keeps your options open instead of letting a missed deadline or lost video make the decision for you.
Spring break is part of what makes Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale. But when the crowds cause real harm, you deserve someone in your corner who knows these streets and these courts. At DiStefano Law, your case review is free, confidential, and available the same day, and because we handle injury cases on a contingency basis, you pay no fee unless we recover for you. Whether you live here or you were just visiting, call me directly at (954) 572-8000 or reach out through our contact page, and let’s talk about your case before the trail goes cold.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do if I'm hurt during spring break in Fort Lauderdale?
Get medical care first, then document everything, the location, the conditions, and anyone involved. Crowds, alcohol, and unfamiliar visitors make spring-break injuries common, and the evidence fades fast.
Who can be liable for a spring-break injury?
It varies, a bar that overserved, a hotel with unsafe conditions, an impaired driver, or an event with inadequate security. Florida law lets you pursue whoever’s negligence caused the harm.
Does it matter that I'm a visitor, not a Florida resident?
No. If you’re injured in Florida by someone’s negligence, you can pursue a claim here regardless of where you live, though the deadlines and rules are Florida’s.
Learn more about how we handle these cases on our personal injury practice areas page.