Florida · Injured in a crash

Injured in a Car Accident in Tamarac?

A rear-end on Commercial Boulevard at University Drive in the evening rush, a T-bone at McNab Road and Pine Island Road, a chain reaction on the Sawgrass Expressway at the Commercial Boulevard ramps. If you were just in a crash in Tamarac, or next door in Margate or North Lauderdale, and you are trying to figure out what to do next, this page is the short version, with the Tamarac-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. Tamarac has no hospital of its own, but the trauma centers are close. Broward Health North at 201 East Sample Road in Deerfield Beach is a state-designated Level II trauma center with a 24-hour emergency room, and Broward Health Medical Center at 1600 South Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale is the county's Level I trauma center. The most serious crashes from Tamarac, Margate and North Lauderdale are brought to one of these two. 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 Tamarac

Tamarac does not have its own police department. The city contracts with the Broward Sheriff's Office, and BSO deputies out of the Tamarac district office at 7515 Pine Island Road, next to City Hall, respond to crashes inside city limits. The district office can point you to BSO's public records unit, which handles crash report requests online. Margate and North Lauderdale are different: Margate has its own police department, and North Lauderdale is also covered by BSO, so a crash a few blocks over the line may belong to a different agency. On the Sawgrass Expressway 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 Tamarac crashes happen

The stretches that come up most: Commercial Boulevard from the Sawgrass Expressway east to State Road 7, which is the city's main east-west road and is lined with plazas, gas stations and apartment entrances the whole way, University Drive at Commercial, at McNab and at Southgate Boulevard, where it carries traffic from Coral Springs down to Plantation, McNab Road from Pine Island Road to Rock Island Road, Pine Island Road itself, and the Sawgrass Expressway ramps at Commercial Boulevard, where cars come off the expressway fast and meet a line of stopped traffic. Tamarac has a large population of older drivers and a lot of residential community entrances with short turn lanes, and the crashes tend to be rear-ends at the lights, left turns out of a community across three lanes, and drivers changing lanes to get around a car slowing to turn. On Commercial Boulevard the pattern is low speed but frequent, and on the Sawgrass it is 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.