Florida · Injured in a crash

Injured in a Car Accident in Sunrise?

A rear-end on Sunrise Boulevard at Flamingo Road in the evening rush, a T-bone at Oakland Park Boulevard and Pine Island Road, a chain reaction on the Sawgrass Expressway near the Sunrise Boulevard ramps. If you were just in a crash in Sunrise, or next door in Plantation, and you are trying to figure out what to do next, this page is the short version, with the Sunrise-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. In Sunrise itself, Broward Health Sunrise at 9001 West Oakland Park Boulevard is a freestanding emergency room open 24 hours, and HCA Florida Westside Hospital at 8201 West Broward Boulevard in Plantation is the closest full hospital with an emergency room. The trauma center for the most serious crashes is Broward Health Medical Center at 1600 South Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, the county'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 Sunrise

Inside city limits, the Sunrise Police Department responds to crashes. Its headquarters and records unit are at 10440 West Oakland Park Boulevard, and the department says crash reports can be requested there in person, by phone or by mail, with the records unit open weekdays and Saturday mornings. Plantation has its own police department, so a crash on the Plantation side of Sunrise Boulevard or University Drive may belong to Plantation Police instead. On the Sawgrass Expressway, 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 Sunrise crashes happen

The stretches that come up most: Oakland Park Boulevard from the Sawgrass Expressway east to University Drive, which is wide, fast and lined with plazas, Sunrise Boulevard from Flamingo Road east past the mall and the arena traffic to University Drive, Pine Island Road at Oakland Park and at Sunrise, University Drive through the Sunrise and Plantation border, where it is one of the busiest surface streets in Broward County, Flamingo Road, and the Sawgrass Expressway ramps at Sunrise Boulevard and Oakland Park Boulevard, where traffic headed to the mall and the arena backs up onto the expressway on weekends and event nights. Around the mall the crashes are low speed and constant, in the parking lots and at the driveways. On the boulevards they are rear-ends at the lights, left turns across three lanes into a plaza, and lane changes around a car slowing to turn. On the Sawgrass 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.