4.11. Traffic Crashes

4.11.1 - Your Responsibilities

• 1. STOP
• If you are in a crash while driving, you must stop. If anyone is hurt, you must get help. You must also be ready to give your name, address, and vehicle registration number, as well as show your driver license to others involved in the crash.
• 2. REPORT THE CRASH
• If the crash causes injury, death, or property damage, it must be reported. Call the local police, the Florida Highway Patrol, or the county sheriff's office. If the crash involves a charge of driving under the influence (DUI) or results in death, injury, or property damage to the extent a wrecker must tow a vehicle, the officer will fill out a report. If the crash is investigated by an officer, the driver need not make a written report. If property damage appears to be over $500 and no report is written by an officer, you must make a written report of the crash to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles within 10 days. The officer will provide you with a copy of the form for your records.
• 3. MOVE YOUR CAR IF IT IS BLOCKING TRAFFIC
• If your car is blocking the flow of traffic, you must move it. If you cannot move it yourself, you must get help or call a tow truck. This is true anytime your vehicle is blocking the flow of traffic whether it has been involved in a crash or not.
• 4. APPEAR IN COURT
• If you are charged in a crash, you may have to go to court. The officer who comes to the scene of the crash will file charges against any driver who violated a traffic law. Anyone who is charged will have a chance to explain to the court what happened. The court will then decide what the penalty is. Anyone who is not charged with violating the law may have to come to court as a witness. If you are found at fault in a collision where anyone is injured and transported to a medical treatment facility or it is your second collision in a two-year period, you will be required by law to attend a Traffic Collision Avoidance Course. The traffic school that conducts this course can be found in the yellow pages of your local telephone book under Driving Instruction.

A driver convicted of leaving the scene of a crash involving death or personal injury will have his or her license revoked. The driver is also subject to criminal penalties.

Crash Involving an Unattended Vehicle

If, while driving, you hit a vehicle with no one in it or if you damage any object that belongs to someone else, you must tell the owner. Give the owner your name, address, and license plate number in person or in a note attached to the object that was hit. Report the crash immediately to the proper law enforcement agency.

4.11.2 - Three Crashes in Three Years Law:

Effective January 1, 2010, section 322.0261(1)(c) requires that if you were convicted of or pleaded nolo contender to your third traffic offense that caused a crash within 36 months, you must complete a department approved driver improvement course that includes behind-the-wheel training and an assessment of your driving safety. The department notifies you of this requirement based on a qualifying third at fault crash occurring on or after January 1, 2010.

What you must do to avoid driver license cancellation:

• Complete 12 hours of the 3-in-3 Crash Course or an approved advanced driver improvement course (ADI).
• Receive 4-hours of behind-the-wheel training from a Florida licensed commercial driving school (CDS).
• Pass the extended road test with a DL examiner or Tax Collector licensing agent.

Failure to complete these requirements within 90 days will result in a license cancellation.

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