Will Insurance Cover a Tire Blowout Accident Claim?

Florida currently works on a no-fault system, but all that can change soon as legislatures weigh the pros and cons of going back to a tort system. Under Florida’s no-fault system, there are two types of damages that are covered. Those are medical expenses and lost wages. In some cases, you can sue for additional damages, but Florida only allows the most significant injuries to make it to the courts.

Because of this, you can file a claim on your own insurance policy if your own tire blows out causing your injuries, even if no one else was involved in the accident. However, that could change if or when we move to a tort system. Below, we’ll discuss the specifics.

Tort actions and tire blowout accidents

It helps to understand that the majority of tire blowout accidents are the fault of the driver whose tire blew out. Essentially, each driver is responsible for ensuring that their vehicle is in roadworthy condition. Most tire blowout accidents occur due to age, physical problems with the tire, underinflation, overinflation, and things that are within the control of the driver to remedy. In other cases, it’s the fault of the tire manufacturer or road debris caused the blowout. However, if the tire blowout is caused by age, a failure to maintain the tire in optimal condition, or it’s not inflated properly, then the driver who failed to properly maintain the tire is responsible for the accident if it can be shown that the tire blowout caused the accident.

Torts and tire blowout accidents

If Florida does move to the tort system, then a culpable party would be responsible for paying the damage caused to another person or their vehicle. Florida already operates on a tort system when it comes to vehicle repair, but those costs are easy to predict and generally tied to the value of the car. Medical expenses and lost wages are much more difficult to predict.

Essentially, each party would carry around $20,000 in bodily injury liability insurance. Claims would be filed on the other party’s insurance policy and the insurance companies would then litigate the claim against one another. Because a failure to maintain your tires is considered negligence (potentially criminal negligence in some cases) your policy would pick up the tab for the other driver’s medical expenses. The liability policy only covers the first $20,000. After that, the injured party can begin coming after your assets, or, if you don’t have any, drive you into bankruptcy.

Tire blowout accidents are violent events that usually leave multiple parties with life-altering injuries or simply dead. Thousands of pounds end up careening out of control. Tire manufacturers pay out millions in claims each year. It’s imperative that all drivers maintain their tires in roadworthy condition to avoid preventable deaths and injuries.

Talk to a Florida Tire Blowout Injury Lawyer

If you or another driver suffered a tire blowout causing an accident, call the Coral Gables tire defect attorneys at Halpern, Santos & Pinkert today to schedule a free consultation and allow us to begin preparing your case for trial.

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