Florida · Injured in a crash

Injured in a Car Accident in Dania Beach?

A rear-end on Federal Highway at Dania Beach Boulevard in the evening rush, a T-bone at Griffin Road and Ravenswood Road, a chain reaction on I-95 near the Stirling Road ramps. If you were just in a crash in Dania Beach, or nearby in Hollywood, around the airport or in south Fort Lauderdale, and you are trying to figure out what to do next, this page is the short version, with the Dania Beach-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. Dania Beach sits between the two Level I trauma centers in Broward County. Memorial Regional Hospital at 3501 Johnson Street in Hollywood, a few minutes south, has a 24-hour emergency room and is the Level I trauma center that takes the most serious crashes from Dania Beach, Hollywood and the airport area. Broward Health Medical Center at 1600 South Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, just north of the airport, is the county's other Level I trauma center. 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 Dania Beach

Dania Beach does not have its own police department. The city contracts with the Broward Sheriff's Office, so crashes inside city limits are handled by BSO deputies out of the Dania Beach District office at 4601 SW 30th Avenue. Crash report requests go through the Sheriff's Office public records unit, not the district office, so ask the deputy at the scene for the report number. Hollywood has its own police department, and Fort Lauderdale Police covers the city to the north, so a crash on the Hollywood side of Sheridan Street or near the airport may belong to a different agency. BSO also has a separate district for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. On I-95, I-595 and Florida's Turnpike it is usually 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 Dania Beach crashes happen

The stretches that come up most: Federal Highway, which is US-1, from the airport south through Dania Beach Boulevard, Stirling Road and Sheridan Street into Hollywood, a wide road lined with plazas, hotels and driveways where the airport traffic mixes with local traffic, Griffin Road from I-95 east to Federal Highway, with the casino, the airport rental car and parking lots and the industrial traffic all feeding into it, Stirling Road, which carries the traffic from I-95 to Federal Highway and the beach, Sheridan Street along the Hollywood line, Dania Beach Boulevard, which is A1A's connection to the beach and the pier, Ravenswood Road and the I-95 ramps at Griffin Road, Stirling Road and Sheridan Street, where cars coming off the interstate meet a solid line of traffic at the lights. On Federal Highway and Griffin Road the crashes are rear-ends at the lights, left turns across several lanes into a plaza, and pedestrians struck crossing a wide road at night. On I-95 they are high speed with several vehicles, and this stretch has seen wrong-way crashes. 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.