Florida · Injured in a crash

Injured in a Car Accident in Coral Springs?

A rear-end on University Drive at Sample Road, a T-bone at Wiles Road and Coral Springs Drive, a pileup coming off the Sawgrass Expressway at Atlantic Boulevard in the morning rush. If you were just in a crash in Coral Springs, or next door in Margate or Coconut Creek, and you are trying to figure out what to do next, this page is the short version, with the Coral Springs-specific details, and links to the full guides.

It costs nothing to find out

If you are reading this and thinking you cannot afford a lawyer, read this part first. Personal injury lawyers do not charge you to talk, do not charge by the hour, and do not charge anything unless they recover money for you. The fee comes out of the recovery at the end, never out of your pocket. The first conversation is free. Call Clyne is free too: we ask you a few questions and connect you with a licensed Florida attorney who looks at your case at no cost. Nobody will ask you for money. Read How Much Does a Car Accident Lawyer Cost.

First, the two things that matter most in Florida

See a doctor within 14 days. Florida is a no-fault state, and your own policy's Personal Injury Protection pays your first medical bills no matter who caused the crash, but only if you get treatment within 14 days. Broward Health Coral Springs at 3000 Coral Hills Drive, just off Sample Road near University Drive, has a 24-hour emergency room in the middle of the city. Coral Springs does not have an adult trauma center of its own. The nearest is Broward Health North on East Sample Road in Deerfield Beach, a Level II trauma center, and the county's Level I trauma center is Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, so the most serious crashes in Coral Springs, Margate and Coconut Creek are usually taken east. Urgent care or your own doctor counts too. Read the 14-day rule guide.

Do not give the other driver's insurer a recorded statement. They will call fast and sound friendly. You are not required to talk to them. Read what to say when they call.

Getting your crash report in Coral Springs

Inside city limits, the Coral Springs Police Department responds to crashes. Its headquarters are at 2801 Coral Springs Drive, next to City Hall, and the department's records unit handles crash report requests there, with public records requests also available through the city's website. Margate and Coconut Creek each have their own police department, so a crash on Atlantic Boulevard east of State Road 7 or on Wiles Road east of the Coral Springs line may belong to one of them instead. On the Sawgrass Expressway and Florida's Turnpike it is the Florida Highway Patrol. Ask the officer at the scene which agency wrote the report and get the report number.

Florida crash reports are available online through the state's Florida Crash Portal, usually within about ten days, and from the responding agency's records unit. For the first 60 days the report is only available to the people involved, their insurers and their lawyers, so have your license and the report number ready.

Roads where Coral Springs crashes happen

The stretches that come up most: University Drive from Wiles Road south through Sample Road and Atlantic Boulevard, the busiest road in the city, Sample Road from the Sawgrass Expressway east through University Drive and Riverside Drive into Margate and Coconut Creek, Wiles Road at University and at Coral Springs Drive, Atlantic Boulevard from the Sawgrass ramps east past University Drive and Rock Island Road toward Margate, Coral Ridge Drive, Riverside Drive, and the Sawgrass Expressway interchanges at Sample, Atlantic and Wiles, where drivers come off a 70-mile-an-hour highway straight into a red light. Coral Springs is a planned city of wide, straight, landscaped boulevards with long blocks between the lights, and many of these crashes are rear-ends at the signals, left turns across three lanes of traffic, and drivers running yellow lights because the next one is a half mile away. Photos of the intersection, the signals and the lane markings matter, because these crashes often turn into arguments about who had the light or who changed lanes.

What to do in the first 48 hours

• Call 911 and get a report, even for a "small" crash.
• Photograph both cars, both licenses, both insurance cards, and the scene.
• See a doctor within 14 days. Sooner is better.
• Report the crash to your own insurer. Facts only.
• Do not accept a quick check or sign anything from the other driver's insurer.
• Keep every bill, receipt and visit summary.

The full step-by-step list is in What to Do After a Car Accident in Florida.

Know the Florida clock

For most car accident injury claims in Florida you have two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit, and if you are found more than half at fault you recover nothing. Both changed in 2023. Details in How Long Do You Have to File in Florida.

When to talk to a lawyer

Not every fender bender needs one. Talk to a lawyer when you were injured and are still treating after a week or two, when the other driver was uninsured or fled, when fault is being disputed, or when you missed work. Florida personal injury lawyers work on contingency, which means no fee unless they recover money for you, and the first conversation is free. More in Do I Need a Lawyer If It Wasn't My Fault and How Much Does a Car Accident Lawyer Cost.

More Florida towns and the full set of guides: Car accidents in Florida.

Call Clyne is a lawyer referral service, not a law firm. Stephen Clyne is not an attorney. This article is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. Talk to a licensed Florida attorney about your situation.