Florida · Injured in a crash

Injured in a Car Accident in Wellington?

A rear-end at State Road 7 and Forest Hill Boulevard in front of the mall, a red-light crash at Wellington Trace and Greenview Shores Boulevard, a high-speed wreck on Southern Boulevard heading out toward Loxahatchee. If you were just in a crash in Wellington, or nearby in Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, The Acreage, Westlake or Greenacres, and you are trying to figure out what to do next, this page is the short version, with the Wellington-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. Wellington has a full hospital inside the village. Wellington Regional Medical Center at 10101 Forest Hill Boulevard, across from The Mall at Wellington Green, has a 24-hour emergency room, and HCA Florida Palms West Hospital on Southern Boulevard in Loxahatchee covers the north and west side. Neither is a designated trauma center, so the most seriously injured crash victims from Wellington 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 Wellington

Wellington 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 Wellington through its District 8 substation, and crash reports are requested through the Sheriff's Office records unit. The Sheriff's Office also covers Royal Palm Beach, through District 9, as well as Loxahatchee, The Acreage, Westlake and the rest of the unincorporated western county, so a crash just over the village line usually still belongs to PBSO. On Southern Boulevard, which is State Road 80, 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. Greenacres has its own police department along the eastern edge. 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 Wellington crashes happen

The stretches that come up most: State Road 7, which is US 441, from Southern Boulevard south past Forest Hill Boulevard and the mall to Lake Worth Road, where the intersection at Forest Hill Boulevard, wedged between the mall and the hospital, recorded 397 crashes in five years and tied for the most crashes of any intersection in Palm Beach County in 2021, Forest Hill Boulevard itself from State Road 7 west through Wellington Trace and South Shore Boulevard to the equestrian side of the village, Southern Boulevard from the Turnpike west past State Road 7 to Loxahatchee and Palms West Hospital, a fast divided highway where wrong-way and high-speed crashes have killed people, Wellington Trace and Greenview Shores Boulevard, where a confusing flashing-yellow left-turn signal and red-light running produced 72 crashes in five years and two crashes in a single morning, Greenbriar Boulevard, which the village is spending millions to make safer, Big Blue Trace, Lake Worth Road, Pierson Road, South Shore Boulevard and the Turnpike ramps at Southern Boulevard and Lake Worth Road. The village roads are wide and curved with 45 mile per hour limits, long gaps between signals and a lot of school and mall traffic, and the crashes are rear-ends at the lights on 441, left turns across traffic into the shopping centers, and red-light and signal-confusion crashes at the big village intersections. 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 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.