Frequently Asked Questions

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 A felony is a serious criminal offense, such as murder or grand theft, and carries a potential prison sentence of more than one year.

A misdemeanor is a less serious criminal offense, such as disorderly conduct or petty theft, and carries a potential sentence of less than one year in a local or county jail.

An infraction is a non-criminal violation of a law or ordinance, such as a traffic violation, and carries a fine or administrative penalty but no jail time.

A Withhold of Adjudication, also known as a deferred prosecution, is a chance to have your record kept clean and no conviction entered if you complete the terms of your probation. If the court agrees to the deal, and you complete all the agreed upon terms and programs, the conviction is removed. No criminal conviction will appear on your record.

Typically, these deals are available for first-time offenders who have never been in trouble before, and for minor misdemeanor charges. But it is possible to get a withhold of adjudication in Florida, even for a felony offense. 

 On a first offense, an interlock ignition device is part of the punishment if you are considered a high BAC offender (over .15 BAC as of 7/1/09), known as an enhanced penalty. An interlock device is also required for any multiple offense conviction.

See my DUI penalties page for more info.

UPDATE: Under the new law, as of July 1, 2009 anyone convicted of a 1st offense DUI who registers a BAC  of .15 or higher, or almost twice the legal limit, will be required to get the device installed in his or her car for 6 months.

(The old “Enhanced BAC” DUI Law prior to July required a level of .20.)

Also note this dissenting view on the harshness of Florida DUI penalties on regular, hardworking citizens.

Typically, these deals are available for first-time offenders who have never been in trouble before, and for minor misdemeanor charges. But it is possible to get a withhold of adjudication in Florida, even for a felony offense.

 Figuring out who is at fault in an accident is a matter of deciding who was careless. For traffic accidents, State traffic laws provide guidelines by which liability may be measured. These rules apply not only to automobiles but also to motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. In some cases, a driver may be liable for an accident even if he/she was obeying, for example, the posted speed limit, if traveling at the posted speed was unreasonably careless given the weather or traffic conditions at the time.

Florida is a No-Fault State, which means that if you're involved in a car accident – regardless of who is at fault –your automobile insurance is going to pay the first $10,000.00 of your medical bills. This is known as Personal Injury Protection (PIP). However, your insurance company is only going to pay 80% of your medical bills – with the remaining 20% being your responsibility. You also may be subjected to a deductible on your policy. 

 Not usually. According to Florida’s Accident Report Privilege, “each crash report made by a person involved in a crash and any statement made by such person to a law enforcement officer for the purpose of completing a crash report required by this section shall be without prejudice to the individual so reporting.” What you say to the police should help provide them with the necessary facts of the case, not incriminate you. 

 No, not until you’ve had your vehicle inspected. Even if you only spot a few scratches, you should still have your vehicle inspected by an auto repair mechanic prior to driving the vehicle as you normally would. 

In the state of Florida, vicarious liability means that even if the owner of the car was not the individual responsible for the car accident, he or she can still be held liable for the damages caused by the individual who was driving.

According to Florida law, a vehicle owner should only be lending their vehicle to responsible drivers. If the individual they lent the vehicle to proves to be negligent, the owner then also becomes negligent by default. This is important to note when pursuing a Personal Injury claim, as you can also pursue a case against the individual or company who lent the at-fault driver the vehicle as well as the driver themselves.