Florida · Injured in a crash

Injured in a Car Accident in Oakland Park?

A rear-end on Oakland Park Boulevard at Dixie Highway in the evening rush, a T-bone at Commercial Boulevard and Powerline Road, a chain reaction on I-95 near the Oakland Park Boulevard ramps. If you were just in a crash in Oakland Park, or nearby in Wilton Manors, Lauderdale Lakes or north Fort Lauderdale, and you are trying to figure out what to do next, this page is the short version, with the Oakland Park-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. The closest full hospital with a 24-hour emergency room is Holy Cross Health at 4725 North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale, right at the east edge of Oakland Park. For the most serious crashes, Broward County has two Level I trauma centers, and the one that serves this part of the county is Broward Health Medical Center at 1600 South Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. Broward Health North in Pompano Beach, a few miles up I-95, is a Level II 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 Oakland Park

Oakland Park 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 Oakland Park District office at 5399 North Dixie Highway, Suite 1. 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. The city lines here are tight: Wilton Manors has its own police department, Fort Lauderdale Police covers the city to the south and east, and Lauderdale Lakes is a separate BSO district, so a crash a few blocks from the Oakland Park line may belong to a different agency. On I-95 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 Oakland Park crashes happen

The stretches that come up most: Oakland Park Boulevard from I-95 east through Dixie Highway, the railroad tracks and Andrews Avenue to Federal Highway, the city's main east-west road and one of the busiest in Broward County, Commercial Boulevard along the north side of the city, from Powerline Road east to Dixie Highway and Federal Highway, Powerline Road, a wide, fast road where speed has been blamed for several serious crashes, Dixie Highway, where the road, the Florida East Coast tracks and the downtown traffic squeeze together, Prospect Road and Andrews Avenue, and the I-95 ramps at Oakland Park Boulevard and Commercial Boulevard, where traffic coming off the interstate meets a solid line of cars at the lights. On the boulevards the crashes are rear-ends at the lights, left turns across three lanes into a plaza, and lane changes around a car slowing to turn. At the railroad crossings on Dixie Highway and Oakland Park Boulevard there have been crashes between cars and trains. On I-95 they are high speed with several vehicles. 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.