I got hurt in a crash in Palm Beach County. What do I need to do, and who pays?

What should I do in the first few days after a crash in Palm Beach County?

Four steps, taken early, protect both your health and the claim.

• See a doctor within 14 days, even if the pain seems minor. Whiplash, concussions and disc injuries often take a day or more to show up. St. Mary's Medical Center and Delray Medical Center are the county's Level I trauma centers, and an emergency room or urgent care clinic can also provide that first visit (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a)).
• Get the report number before you leave the scene. Depending on where the crash happened, it is written by West Palm Beach Police, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO), a city department such as Boca Raton or Jupiter, or Florida Highway Patrol Troop L. A copy is usually available through the Florida Crash Portal in about 10 days.
• Take pictures of both vehicles, the road, the traffic signals, your injuries, and the other driver's license, plate and insurance card. Back them up somewhere besides your phone. Note any business on the corner, since its cameras may have recorded the collision.
• Decline a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company and sign nothing it sends you. Your own policy requires you to cooperate with your insurer, but it is still wise to understand your rights before that call.

Whose insurance covers my medical bills if the other driver caused the crash?

At first, yours. Florida's no-fault system makes your own PIP coverage the first payer regardless of fault, and every registered car in the state must carry $10,000 of it. It covers 80% of reasonable medical expenses and 60% of lost income up to that limit, but medical benefits stop at $2,500 unless a qualified provider finds an emergency medical condition (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)).

Once the bills outgrow PIP, the next sources are your health insurance, providers willing to wait for payment until the case ends, and, if the injury is permanent, the at-fault driver's bodily injury liability coverage. Florida does not make most drivers buy bodily injury coverage at all (Fla. Stat. § 324.022), so the uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy is often what decides how much can actually be collected.

When can I claim pain and suffering, and does it matter if I was partly to blame?

Florida limits claims for pain, suffering and inconvenience against the at-fault driver to injuries that cross the threshold in Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2): a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. A fracture, a herniated disc or an injury that needs surgery frequently qualifies. A sprain that heals completely in a few weeks usually does not.

Fault is divided by percentage under Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6). A person found 30% responsible keeps 70% of the damages, while a person found 51% responsible collects nothing from the other side. The officer's opinion in the crash report is not binding, and fault is regularly fought over with witness accounts, video and the damage to the vehicles.

What is the deadline to sue after a car crash in Florida?

Two years from the date of the crash, for crashes on or after March 24, 2023 (Fla. Stat. § 95.11). Crashes before that date had a four-year limit. Treat the two years as the outside edge, not a target: PIP has its own 14-day treatment rule, and insurance claims should be opened within days. When a government vehicle is involved, for example a Palm Tran bus or a city or county truck, Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6) requires written notice to the agency before a lawsuit can be filed, which adds time to the process.

Which Palm Beach County roads come up again and again in crash cases?

Crashes happen everywhere, but some corridors combine heavy, fast and mixed traffic: I-95 and Florida's Turnpike, Okeechobee Boulevard between downtown and the Turnpike, Southern Boulevard heading west toward Wellington, Military Trail, Congress Avenue and Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. Downtown West Palm Beach adds the Brightline and FEC tracks, which cross many streets at grade, plus the evening crowds around Clematis Street and The Square. In the south county, Glades Road in Boca Raton and Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach are busy retail and restaurant strips.

Where the crash happened shapes the evidence. It tells us which agency wrote the report and whether a traffic camera or a store's security system may have captured the collision. If a lawsuit is needed, it can be filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, whose Main Judicial Complex is at 205 N. Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach.

What can I be compensated for after a Palm Beach County car crash?

Economic losses come first: medical care already received and care you will need later, lost paychecks, and any lasting drop in your ability to earn. These are claimed against the at-fault driver's insurance, and then against your own uninsured motorist coverage if that runs short. If the injury meets the permanent-injury threshold of Fla. Stat. § 627.737, you can also seek non-economic damages such as pain, mental anguish, inconvenience and lost enjoyment of life. Damage to the car itself is a separate property claim, paid by the other driver's property damage coverage or your own collision coverage. An honest value can't be given on the first call. It turns on the injury, the treatment, fault, and the insurance in play, and the firm will tell you plainly which of those is holding your case back.

Which missteps most often weaken a car accident claim?

• Letting the 14-day window pass without seeing a doctor. You lose PIP medical benefits, and the insurer gains an argument that the injury was minor.
• Talking on a recorded line with the other driver's insurer before your injuries are diagnosed or the crash report is out.
• Sharing photos or updates online. A beach day or a gym video posted weeks later can be used to argue you were never hurt.
• Skipping appointments or stopping therapy early. A gap in care looks like recovery to an adjuster, even when it is not.
• Signing a blanket medical release that opens your entire medical history instead of only the records tied to the crash.
• Taking a quick settlement while you are still treating. Once a release is signed, a later surgery cannot be added to the claim.