Florida · Injured in a crash

Injured in a Car Accident in Spring Hill?

A rear-end on Spring Hill Drive at Mariner Boulevard in the afternoon rush, a left turn pulled out in front of traffic on US 19 at Northcliffe Boulevard, a rollover on the Suncoast Parkway near the State Road 50 exit. If you were just in a crash in Spring Hill, Weeki Wachee, Brooksville or anywhere else in Hernando County and you are trying to figure out what to do next, this page is the short version, with the Spring Hill-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 main hospital for Spring Hill is HCA Florida Oak Hill Hospital at 11375 Cortez Boulevard, on State Road 50 between Spring Hill and Brooksville, which has a 24-hour emergency room, and the hospital opened a freestanding emergency room, HCA Florida Oak Hill South Emergency, on Spring Hill Drive near Mariner Boulevard in the middle of Spring Hill. Oak Hill is not a designated Level I trauma center, so the most seriously injured crash victims from Hernando County are usually flown or driven south to Tampa General Hospital, the region's 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 Spring Hill

Spring Hill is not a city and has no police department of its own. Crashes on the neighborhood streets and county roads are handled by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, whose main office is at 18900 Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville, and crash reports are requested through the Sheriff's Office records unit there. On US 19, State Road 50, the Suncoast Parkway, County Line Road and the other state roads it is usually the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Patrol investigates most of the serious and fatal crashes in the county. Inside the Brooksville city limits it is the Brooksville Police Department. 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 Spring Hill crashes happen

The stretches that come up most: US 19, called Commercial Way here, from County Line Road north through Spring Hill Drive, Northcliffe Boulevard and Cortez Boulevard to Weeki Wachee, a wide, fast highway with long gaps between the signals and left turns out of every shopping center, Spring Hill Drive from US 19 east to Mariner Boulevard and on toward the Suncoast Parkway, Mariner Boulevard itself, where the intersections at County Line Road and Northcliffe Boulevard have long been among the worst in the county, County Line Road along the Pasco border, where neighbors have pushed for a signal at Farnsworth Boulevard after years of crashes, Cortez Boulevard, which is State Road 50, from US 19 east past the hospital toward Brooksville and I-75, the Suncoast Parkway, State Road 589, with its high-speed interchanges at State Road 50 and County Line Road, Northcliffe Boulevard, Barclay Avenue, Elgin Boulevard and Deltona Boulevard. Spring Hill was laid out as a subdivision, so the boulevards are long and straight with two lanes each way, few signals and plenty of driveways, and the crashes are left turns in front of oncoming traffic, rear-ends at the few lights and single cars running off the road at night. 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 right of way.

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.