Key Takeaways
- Roman Austin Injury Lawyers is a Clearwater-based firm with an A+ BBB rating, an Inc. 5000 ranking, and over 1,200 five-star Google reviews, and it has published multiple bicycle-accident case results specific to Pinellas County.
- Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes has practiced in Clearwater since 1955 and reports over $675 million recovered for clients, with several attorneys carrying Super Lawyers and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum recognition.
- Fran Haasch Law Group is based in nearby Palm Harbor, serves Clearwater and the rest of Pinellas County, and its founding attorney holds an Avvo 10.0 rating and lifetime Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum membership.
- Tanney, Griffith & Bresler, P.A. has operated out of Clearwater since 1956, and every attorney at the firm carries an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell along with Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum membership.
Clearwater is a good place to ride a bike and a genuinely risky one at the same time. The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail runs right through the city and connects to the Ream Wilson Clearwater Trail downtown, so on any given afternoon you’ve got commuters, snowbirds on rental cruisers, and serious road cyclists all sharing pavement with drivers who aren’t always looking for them. Add in corridors like Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road, where multiple lanes of fast-moving traffic cross bike lanes at driveways and intersections, and it’s not hard to see why Pinellas County shows up again and again in Florida’s bicycle crash data.
When a driver hits a cyclist here, the injuries are rarely minor, and the insurance fight that follows is rarely simple. Florida’s fault rules, helmet laws, and 2023 changes to the comparative negligence statute all shape what a claim is worth and how fast you have to move on it. Below are four Clearwater-area firms that handle these cases, starting with Roman Austin, followed by three well-established local competitors, each verified through their own websites.
At a Glance
| Firm | Best Known For / Focus | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Roman Austin Injury Lawyers | Bicycle and car accident trial firm with published Pinellas County bike-crash results | Clearwater, FL |
| Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes | Long-tenured trial firm with large aggregate recoveries since 1955 | Clearwater, FL |
| Fran Haasch Law Group | Accident and injury firm with a dedicated Clearwater bicycle-accident page | Palm Harbor, FL |
| Tanney, Griffith & Bresler, P.A. | Established personal injury firm serving Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco Counties | Clearwater, FL |
1. Roman Austin Injury Lawyers
Type: Personal Injury & Bicycle Accident Trial Firm | Focus: Bicycle, car, and catastrophic injury claims | Location: Clearwater, FL
Roman Austin works out of Clearwater, with its flagship office at 1811 N. Belcher Road, Suite I-1, and its brand line, “Local Roots. Million Dollar Results,” reflects a firm built by attorneys who grew up in this market. Partner John C. Austin is himself an avid cyclist, which gives the firm a genuine feel for how these crashes happen on Pinellas roads and trails, not just a generic template for a bike-accident page. Attorney Mark S. Roman is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, a credential the Florida Bar grants to fewer than 2% of attorneys in the state.
The firm’s Clearwater bicycle accident practice page lays out how it handles these claims, and its published case results back it up with actual Pinellas County outcomes: a $550,000 result for a cyclist who was riding the Pinellas Trail in Dunedin, entered a crosswalk with the right-of-way, and was struck by a vehicle, and a $650,000 result for a Palm Harbor cyclist riding in a bike lane who was cut off by a commercial vehicle. Roman Austin also holds an A+ BBB rating, an Inc. 5000 ranking as one of the nation’s fastest-growing companies, and more than 1,200 five-star Google reviews.
Website: romanaustin.com
2. Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes
Type: Personal Injury & Trial Firm | Focus: Bicycle, motor vehicle, and catastrophic injury cases | Location: Clearwater, FL
Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes has been practicing out of Clearwater since 1955, with an office at 1875 N. Belcher Road, and that longevity shows up in how the firm talks about the local roads and trails its clients get hurt on. The firm reports over $675 million recovered for clients across its history, and several of its attorneys carry Super Lawyers recognition spanning multiple years, along with Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum membership and an AV Preeminent rating.
The firm maintains a dedicated bicycle accident practice page and lists Board Certified attorneys among its ranks, which matters in a practice area where insurance companies routinely try to shift blame onto the cyclist. It’s a deep bench for a firm this size, and one of the more established options in the Clearwater market.
Website: usalaw.com
3. Fran Haasch Law Group
Type: Accident & Injury Firm | Focus: Bicycle accidents, personal injury | Location: Palm Harbor, FL
Fran Haasch Law Group is based just north of Clearwater in Palm Harbor, and the firm has represented injured people throughout Pinellas County since 2001. Founding attorney Fran Haasch is a lifetime member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and holds a 10.0 Superb rating on Avvo, and the firm is active in the Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association and the Florida Justice Association.
The firm runs a page titled specifically for Clearwater bicycle accident representation, covering claims involving driver negligence, poor road conditions, and equipment failure. For someone in Clearwater who wants a firm that treats bicycle cases as their own category rather than folding them into generic car-accident content, this is a reasonable option to look at.
Website: lawfran.com
4. Tanney, Griffith & Bresler, P.A.
Type: Personal Injury Firm | Focus: Bicycle and motor vehicle accident claims | Location: Clearwater, FL
Tanney, Griffith & Bresler has operated in Clearwater since 1956, with an office on US Highway 19 North, and the firm serves clients across Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Pasco Counties. Every attorney at the firm carries the highest AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and all are members of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, which speaks to a consistent track record over a long stretch of time.
The firm keeps a dedicated bicycle accidents page, and its near seventy-year presence in the market means it has likely seen most of the ways these Pinellas County claims can get complicated, from disputed right-of-way calls to insurers trying to pin partial fault on the cyclist.
Website: tanneygriffithlaw.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do right after a bicycle accident in Clearwater?
Get medical attention even if you feel okay, since adrenaline can mask injuries like fractures or a concussion for hours. Call the police so a crash report gets filed, photograph the scene, your bike, and your injuries before anything gets moved or cleaned up, and get the driver’s insurance information. Avoid giving a recorded statement to the driver’s insurance company until you’ve talked to a lawyer, since early statements are often used to shift blame onto the cyclist.
Who is usually at fault when a car hits a cyclist in a Florida bike lane?
Under Florida law, a cyclist riding lawfully in a marked bike lane generally has the right-of-way over a vehicle turning across or merging into that lane. That said, fault gets contested often, especially at driveways and intersections, and insurers will look for any argument that the cyclist was riding outside the lane, running a stop sign, or otherwise contributed to the crash.
Does Florida’s comparative negligence law reduce what I can recover if I wasn’t wearing a helmet?
Florida does not require adult cyclists to wear a helmet, only riders under 16. Not wearing one typically won’t bar a claim outright, but under Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule, adopted in 2023, a jury can still reduce your compensation by whatever percentage of fault it assigns to you, and you’re barred from recovering at all if you’re found more than 50% at fault. How that percentage gets argued is exactly the kind of fight a personal injury lawyer handles.
How long do I have to file a bicycle accident claim in Florida?
For crashes occurring on or after March 24, 2023, Florida’s statute of limitations for negligence claims, including most bicycle accident cases, is two years from the date of the crash. Cases from before that date generally fall under the prior four-year window. Missing the deadline typically means losing the right to sue entirely, so it’s worth confirming your specific timeline early.
What compensation can a bicycle accident victim recover in Clearwater?
Depending on the facts, compensation can include medical bills, future medical care, lost wages, lost earning capacity if the injury is long-term, property damage to the bike and gear, and pain and suffering. Cases involving fractures, surgery, or traumatic brain injury, which show up repeatedly in Pinellas County bicycle crash reports, tend to carry higher damages given the extended recovery and treatment involved.
Final Thoughts
Bicycle accident claims in Clearwater sit at the intersection of a genuinely bike-friendly city and some genuinely dangerous roads. The Pinellas Trail and the Ream Wilson Trail draw riders of every skill level, while corridors like Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road put those same riders next to fast, heavy traffic with limited margin for driver error. That combination is why so many of the published case results from local firms involve the same recurring scenarios: a cyclist in a marked lane cut off by a turning vehicle, a rider struck in a crosswalk despite having the right-of-way, or a collision at an intersection where fault immediately becomes a dispute.
Florida’s 2023 shift to modified comparative negligence and the shortened two-year filing window make timing and evidence more important than they used to be. A crash report, prompt medical documentation, and witness information gathered soon after the incident tend to matter more under the current rules than they did under the old ones. Whichever firm a Clearwater cyclist chooses to evaluate a claim, those are the details worth having in hand.
Case results and figures mentioned above are as published on each firm’s own website and do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other case.
