Florida · Injured in a crash

Injured in a Car Accident in Royal Palm Beach?

A rear-end on Southern Boulevard in the evening backup near Royal Palm Beach Boulevard, a T-bone at State Road 7 and Okeechobee Boulevard, a single car into a palm tree on Okeechobee Boulevard late at night. If you were just in a crash in Royal Palm Beach, or nearby in Wellington, Loxahatchee, The Acreage, Westlake or Loxahatchee Groves, and you are trying to figure out what to do next, this page is the short version, with the Royal Palm 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. The closest hospital to most of Royal Palm Beach is HCA Florida Palms West Hospital, on Southern Boulevard in Loxahatchee just west of the village, which has a 24-hour emergency room, and Wellington Regional Medical Center on Forest Hill Boulevard is a few minutes south. Neither is a designated trauma center, so the most seriously injured crash victims from the western communities are usually taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, the Level I trauma center for the north half of Palm Beach County, or to Delray Medical Center, the Level I center for the south half. 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 Royal Palm Beach

Royal Palm Beach is a village, and it does not have a police department of its own. Crashes inside the village are handled by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, which covers Royal Palm Beach through its District 9 substation, and crash reports are requested through the Sheriff's Office records unit. The Sheriff's Office also covers Wellington, through District 8, as well as Loxahatchee, The Acreage, Westlake and the rest of the unincorporated western county, so a crash on the far side of the village line usually still belongs to PBSO. On Southern Boulevard, which is State Road 80, on Okeechobee Boulevard, on Florida's Turnpike and on the other state roads it is often the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Patrol investigates many of the serious and fatal crashes out here. 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 Royal Palm Beach crashes happen

The stretches that come up most: Southern Boulevard, which is State Road 80, from the Turnpike west past State Road 7, Royal Palm Beach Boulevard and Crestwood Boulevard to Palms West Hospital and Loxahatchee, a fast divided highway where rear-ends in stopped traffic and wrong-way crashes have killed people, State Road 7, which is US 441, from Okeechobee Boulevard south to Southern Boulevard, where the intersection at Southern ranks among the most crash-prone in Palm Beach County, Okeechobee Boulevard from State Road 7 west through Royal Palm Beach Boulevard and Crestwood Boulevard toward The Acreage, where single-car crashes into trees and medians happen at night, Royal Palm Beach Boulevard, the main north-south road through the village from Southern Boulevard up to Okeechobee Boulevard and on into The Acreage, Crestwood Boulevard, where pedestrians and students at bus stops have been struck, Belvedere Road, Seminole Pratt Whitney Road out toward Westlake, and the Turnpike ramps at Southern Boulevard and Okeechobee Boulevard. Southern and Okeechobee are the two ways in and out for tens of thousands of commuters from The Acreage and Loxahatchee, so the morning and evening rushes are long lines of fast traffic and the crashes are rear-ends at the lights, left turns across three lanes into the plazas on 441, and high-speed crashes on the open stretches to the west. Photos of the intersection, the signals, the sight lines 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.