Florida’s two-year crash lawsuit clock is not new — and it still trips people up

Florida drivers still search “how long do I have after a car accident” and get the old four-year answer. That answer is wrong for a typical negligence crash that happened after March 24, 2023.

House Bill 837, enrolled as Chapter 2023-15, shortened the statute of limitations for general negligence from four years to two. The Florida Senate bill summary and the enrolled act both state that the two-year period applies prospectively to causes of action accruing after the effective date. Medical-malpractice and some other claim types keep their own clocks.

What “accruing after March 24, 2023” means in practice

If your crash was on or after that date, waiting until year three to file a negligence lawsuit is how people lose the claim entirely — even when the other driver was cited. If your crash was earlier, the old four-year period may still apply. Do not guess; the date of the wreck matters.

HB 837 also moved Florida from pure comparative negligence to a modified system for most negligence cases: a plaintiff found more than 50 percent at fault generally recovers nothing from the defendant. Medical-negligence cases were carved out of that change.

Shorter traps than two years

Claims involving a city bus, a county road, or another public entity often require a formal notice of claim on a much tighter schedule than the lawsuit deadline. Those notices are easy to miss because they do not feel like “the” statute of limitations.

This is a statutory explainer, not a calculation of your case. Confirm Fla. Stat. § 95.11 and, if a government defendant is in the mix, the applicable notice statute with a Florida-licensed attorney.

Sources: Florida Senate 2023 bill summary, HB 837; HB 837 bill page; Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida.