Odessa car accident lawyer

Odessa is a straight shot east on SR-54 from our office. State Road 54 leaves Little Road, passes HCA Florida Trinity Hospital, crosses Gunn Highway in Odessa and reaches the Suncoast Parkway at exit 19, and most Odessa car accidents happen somewhere on that stretch. Conde-Huggins Accident Injury Lawyers, based at 6609 Ridge Road in Port Richey, drives it regularly to meet clients.

Odessa also sits on the Pasco-Hillsborough line, which matters for who investigated your crash and where a lawsuit would be filed. It does not matter for the law or for whether we handle the case. Call (240) 421-5511 for a free consultation. No attorney's fee unless we win.

The three places Odessa car accidents happen

SR-54 at Gunn Highway. A fast six-lane state road meeting a two-lane county highway that brings Keystone and Citrus Park traffic up from the south. The left turn from Gunn onto SR-54, the red-light crash on the SR-54 approaches and the rear-end collision in the Gunn Highway queue are the three collisions that define the intersection, and it has been the site of fatal crashes.

The Suncoast Parkway interchange at exit 19. Drivers leave a toll road posted at 70 and arrive at a signalized arterial within a quarter mile. The merge at the bottom of the ramps and the first signals east and west of the interchange are high-speed, multi-vehicle crash sites, and the parkway itself is worked by FHP nearly without exception.

The Starkey Ranch entrances and the new subdivision roads. Starkey Ranch, built on the last 2,500 acres of the old Starkey ranch along SR-54, has its own K-8 school, district park and library, and thousands of residents who enter and leave through a handful of signals and median openings on SR-54. Internal roads are wide and straight and invite speed. Crashes at the entrances almost always involve a driver turning left across through traffic.

South of the line, Gunn Highway toward Keystone winds past lakes and ranch property on two lanes with curves, few shoulders and no lighting. Lane-departure crashes are the Gunn Highway wreck, and the Pasco MPO counted 3,246 of those countywide in 2022, with 45 deaths.

The three numbers that decide an Odessa claim

Fourteen. Days to get initial medical care, or PIP pays nothing (Fla. Stat. § 627.736). Within that window your own policy pays 80 percent of medical bills and 60 percent of lost income up to $10,000 regardless of fault, with the medical benefit capped at $2,500 unless a physician, physician assistant, dentist or nurse practitioner documents an emergency medical condition. HCA Florida Trinity Hospital at 9330 SR-54 East is the closest emergency room for the Pasco side; St. Joseph's Hospital-North on Van Dyke Road in Lutz is close for the Hillsborough side.

Fifty. The percentage of fault above which you recover nothing under Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6). At or below it, your award is reduced by your share. Every SR-54 and Gunn Highway crash is a fault contest, and the adjuster's first call is an attempt to move your number up. Do not give a recorded statement. Call (240) 421-5511 instead.

Two. Years to file a negligence lawsuit under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a), whether the crash was in Pasco or Hillsborough. Claims against either county require notice under Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6) first.

And one more rule that is not a number: to recover pain and suffering from the at-fault driver, Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2) requires a permanent injury, significant permanent scarring, permanent loss of an important bodily function, or death. The finding comes from your treating physicians, and we make sure the question is asked.

Who pays when the other driver is uninsured

Florida requires only $10,000 in PIP and $10,000 in property damage liability. Bodily injury coverage is optional, and a driver on Gunn Highway with the state-minimum policy has nothing for your injuries. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage under Fla. Stat. § 627.727 on your own policy, or on the policy of a relative in your household, is frequently the largest source of recovery in an Odessa case. Many Odessa families also carry umbrella policies that include UM and forget they have them. Send us a photo of every declarations page in the house.

Where the other driver was working, an employer and a commercial policy come into the case. Where the vehicle was a Pasco County truck, a Hillsborough County vehicle or a school bus, Fla. Stat. § 768.28 governs: notice before suit, a waiting period, and a cap of $200,000 per person.

What the county line changes

The report. FHP Troop C covers both counties and handles most serious crashes on SR-54, Gunn Highway and the parkway. On local roads, the Pasco Sheriff's Office responds north of the line and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office south of it. The Pasco Sheriff's Office generally does not write long-form reports, so a Pasco-side crash worked by a deputy may have a thinner record than a Hillsborough-side crash a mile away. Any agency's report is sold through the Florida Crash Portal and is confidential for 60 days except to the parties and their attorneys under Fla. Stat. § 316.066(2).

The courthouse. A Pasco-side Odessa case is filed at the West Pasco Judicial Center, 7530 Little Road in New Port Richey. A Hillsborough-side case is filed in Tampa. Clementine Conde has practiced in Tampa Bay courts since 1992 and handles both.

The cross street. "SR-54 near Gunn Highway" is Pasco; "Gunn Highway near Keystone Road" is Hillsborough. Tell us the nearest cross street and we will know which agency and which courthouse within a minute.

The first week, handled

1. We meet you at HCA Florida Trinity, St. Joseph's Hospital-North, HCA Florida Bayonet Point in Hudson or at home.
2. We send preservation letters to the other driver's insurer, the plazas at SR-54 and Gunn Highway, and the toll authority.
3. We obtain the report, the 911 audio and the signal data.
4. We open your PIP and property damage claims so the adjuster calls us.
5. We confirm every policy, including UM and umbrella coverage in your household.

For the community overview see Odessa; for the full Florida rules see our car accident page; for crashes east on SR-54 see Land O' Lakes car accidents, and for US-41 and Van Dyke Road see Lutz car accidents.

Talk to a Port Richey car accident lawyer about your Odessa crash today

We are a short drive west on SR-54. Call Conde-Huggins at (240) 421-5511, 24 hours a day, or contact us online. Free consultation, no attorney's fee unless we win, and staff members speak Spanish.