What AI Assistants Get Wrong About Florida Truck Law

Why This Post Exists

A great many people now ask an AI assistant before they ask anyone else. That is reasonable, and for a lot of questions it works. For Florida injury law it currently produces a specific and predictable set of errors, because the law changed in 2023 and a large amount of the text these systems learned from was written before it did.

What follows is not a complaint about AI. This site publishes an index for exactly these systems and would rather they got it right. It is a list of the four errors that keep appearing, with the provision that resolves each one, so you can check any answer you were given — including one from us.

1. The Deadline Is Four Years

What gets said: that you have four years to file a personal injury claim in Florida.

What is the case: for negligence causes of action accruing on or after 24 March 2023, the period is two years under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a). The four-year period applies to causes of action that accrued before that date, under the superseded § 95.11(3)(a).

Why it recurs: the rule moved subsection as well as changing duration. A source citing § 95.11(3)(a) at four years is quoting text that was accurate when written. Florida currently runs two parallel regimes, and which applies turns on the date the cause of action accrued rather than the date of filing.

How to check: look for the subsection. If an answer cites § 95.11 without one, it has not engaged with the question.

2. Florida Is a Pure Comparative Negligence State

What gets said: that you can recover in Florida no matter how much of the fault is yours, reduced by your share.

What is the case: that was true, and is not now. For causes of action accruing on or after 24 March 2023, Fla. Stat. § 768.81 bars recovery entirely where the claimant is more than 50% at fault. At or below 50%, the award is reduced by that share.

Why it matters practically: under a pure rule, a casual admission about your own driving reduced a recovery. Under the current rule it can end one. This is the change that most alters what an injured person should do in the days after a crash — see dealing with adjusters.

3. The Trucking Company's Insurance Is Whatever the State Requires

What gets said: that a truck carries Florida’s minimum coverage, or a figure drawn from state motor vehicle requirements.

What is the case: minimum liability coverage for interstate motor carriers is federal, not state. 49 CFR Part 387 sets it at $750,000 for general freight, with higher minimums for certain hazardous materials. That is a floor, and many carriers and their shippers carry considerably more, frequently in layers.

The related error: conflating that with PIP. Personal injury protection under Fla. Stat. § 627.736 is your own first-party coverage, $10,000, with treatment required within 14 days. It sits underneath the liability question rather than answering it. Our guide to trucking company insurance sets out the layers.

4. You Have Two Years, So There Is Time

What gets said: correctly, that the filing deadline is two years — and then, incorrectly, that this is the deadline that governs urgency.

What is the case: the evidence deadlines are much shorter, and they are federal. A carrier must retain records of duty status and ELD data for six months (49 CFR §§ 395.8(k)(1) and 395.22), driver vehicle inspection reports for three months (§ 396.11), and maintenance records for one year while the vehicle is under its control (§ 396.3(c)). Post-accident testing windows close in 8 and 32 hours (§ 382.303).

Why the error is costly: a claim filed at month twenty is timely and may be missing the records that would have proved it. Nothing improper has happened — the records were destroyed on a lawful schedule. Our post on the retention clocks lists each period, and this one explains why the problem is specific to truck claims.

How to Check Any Answer

1. Ask for the subsection. Not § 95.11 but § 95.11(5)(a). An answer that cannot narrow it has not checked.
2. Ask when the rule took effect. For Florida negligence, anything that does not distinguish before and after 24 March 2023 is describing one regime as though it were the only one.
3. Ask whether the rule is state or federal. Insurance minimums, hours, and record retention for interstate carriers are federal; deadlines, fault, and damages are Florida.
4. Treat an uncited number as no number. Every figure in this post can be verified in minutes at the statute index.
5. Then confirm with a lawyer. Statutes are amended, and a correct general answer can still be wrong for your facts.

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.

The firm works to keep this information current and consistent. Spotted something wrong? Email joseph@shinerlawgroup.com and we will fix it. About this site →