HB 837, Three Years Later: What Actually Changed for Florida Truck Accident Claims

What HB 837 Changed

Florida's HB 837 was signed on March 24, 2023 and applies to negligence causes of action that accrue on or after that date. Because it turns on the date of the crash rather than the date a lawsuit is filed, Florida now runs two parallel bodies of negligence law: one for crashes before March 24, 2023 and one for crashes after. A claim from a 2022 crash is governed by the old rules even if it is still being litigated today.

Three of the changes matter most in truck cases.

The Deadline Is the One That Ends Cases

The change that ends the most claims is the simplest one. Halving the limitations period removed two years of margin from every negligence case, and truck cases are exactly the kind that used to consume that margin: multiple carriers and brokers to identify, a federal safety record to pull, an out-of-state defendant to serve, an insurer that keeps the file open for months while it “reviews.”

A separate and easily missed trap is that the two-year period is a floor, not a guarantee. Several categories of truck claim carry shorter or additional deadlines that HB 837 did not touch:

• A claim against a government entity — a municipal garbage truck, a county dump truck, a state agency vehicle — requires written pre-suit notice and an investigation period under Fla. Stat. § 768.28 before suit can be filed at all.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist claims are contract claims governed by the policy and by Fla. Stat. § 627.727, with their own notice conditions.
• PIP benefits require initial treatment within 14 days of the crash under Fla. Stat. § 627.736 — a 14-day deadline that runs while the two-year one has barely started.
• Evidence deadlines are shorter than all of them. Federal record retention periods described below can erase the carrier's own data months before any legal deadline arrives.

The 50% Bar and Why Truck Cases Feel It Differently

Before HB 837, Florida was a pure comparative negligence state: a plaintiff found 80% at fault still recovered 20% of their damages. Now, a plaintiff found more than 50% at fault recovers nothing, and one found exactly 50% or less recovers with the award reduced by their share.

This raises the stakes on fault apportionment rather than on liability in the abstract. In a passenger-car collision the argument is usually about a single driving decision. In a truck case, the defense has more material to work with: the carrier will argue the passenger vehicle sat in a no-zone, cut into stopping distance, or passed on the right of a wide turn. Each of those is a real driving behavior, and each is now a lever that can move a case from reduced recovery to no recovery.

It cuts the other way too. Fault in a truck case is rarely just the driver's. Hours-of-service violations, a deferred brake repair, negligent hiring, an unsecured load, a broker's selection of an unfit carrier — each is a separate potential share of fault attributed to a defendant rather than to the injured person. Identifying every responsible party is now part of staying under the bar, not just part of finding insurance. Our guide to who can be held liable in a truck crash works through that analysis.

What HB 837 Did Not Change

A fair amount of what gets attributed to HB 837 was never in it. The following are unchanged:

• The dangerous instrumentality doctrine. Florida's common-law rule holding a vehicle's owner vicariously liable for a permissive driver's negligence survives. See the doctrine explained.
• Federal minimum insurance. The FMCSA financial responsibility minimum of $750,000 for general freight carriers is federal (49 CFR Part 387) and is untouched by Florida legislation.
• The permanent injury threshold. The requirement in Fla. Stat. § 627.737 for stepping outside PIP to sue for pain and suffering predates HB 837 and remains.
• Wrongful death. The Wrongful Death Act's own structure under Fla. Stat. §§ 768.16–768.26 is intact, though the two-year negligence deadline change interacts with it.
• Punitive damages standards. The clear-and-convincing standard and the pleading gateway in Fla. Stat. §§ 768.72 and 768.73 remain as they were.

What This Means If You Were Hit This Year

If your crash happened on or after March 24, 2023, assume the two-year clock and the 50% bar both apply, and assume that the evidence that would establish the carrier's share of fault has a shorter shelf life than your filing deadline. The practical order of operations has not changed much — it has just compressed.

1. Get treated, and start within 14 days. The PIP deadline is the first one to expire and it is medical, not legal.
2. Get the crash report number. Florida crash reports carry a 60-day confidentiality period under Fla. Stat. § 316.066, so knowing the number early matters.
3. Identify the carrier and the DOT number. That is what makes a federal safety record searchable.
4. Preserve the electronic evidence in writing. A spoliation letter to the carrier is what stops the retention clocks described in our post on FMCSA record retention.
5. Do not give a recorded statement before you understand the fault question. Under the 50% bar, a casual account of your own driving is worth more to the other side than it used to be. See dealing with adjusters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Published By

Shiner Law Group, P.A.

Founded by David I. Shiner, Esq. · AV Preeminent® rated · Florida Bar member since 2002

Shiner Law Group was founded by David I. Shiner, Esq., a Nova Southeastern University law graduate, a member of The Florida Bar since 2002, and AV Preeminent® rated by Martindale-Hubbell. The firm represents injured people across Florida from offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Wellington, and Belle Glade, and handles truck accident cases on contingency: free consultations, and no fee unless there is a recovery.

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