Serious Accident Closes 441 Northbound: Scene Photos & Video

Update: Per a reader the road is still closed as of 11:40 pm on Friday night.

A friend alerted us tonight to an accident scene on the northbound side of 441 near Target and West Boca Medical Center. We went to the scene and took several photos as well as video. A brief video summary is below, but it was early in our investigation and we learned more afterward.

We also received the following thanks to Palm Beach County Alerts:

***WEST BOCA*** Pedestrian Accident — Central Park Blvd S @ State Road 7 — R51 onscene in front of West Boca Hospital, vehicle hit multiple pedestrians, Incident Commander advising they have 2 Trauma Alerts going to Delray Trauma Center by ground & 1 other patient non-critical — Tac 4A

Here’s a map showing the location:

At the scene this reporter was able to see various items of debris in the roadway and on the shoulder. In particular there was a shoe or sneaker, a flip-flop, and a hat, all in the travel portion of the roadway.

I also saw two different skateboards, an orange one just off the shoulder at the south end of the scene, and a green one further into the grass at the north end of the debris area. In the picture below, the orange skateboard is at the lower left corner and you may be able to see the shoe in roughly the middle of the picture.

I’m not sure why this worked with my camera but the shot below gives a good sense of the amount of debris in the roadway behind one of the cars that was on the scene:

Later on deputies from PBSO were spray-painting the roadway where the items were and then collecting the items as evidence, as seen in the two videos below:


Piecing it all together based on my experience in handling criminal and personal injury cases including accident reconstructions, certain details stand out. First of all the shoe, flip-flop and hat in the roadway suggest that there wasn’t just one pedestrian hit by a vehicle but multiple and they were in the roadway when they were hit. It is somewhat common for a pedestrian to be literally knocked out of their shoes when hit by a car. In this case it would appear that two different pedestrians were hit, as it seems unlikely that one person would be wearing a flip-flop on one foot and a shoe on the other. For legal help with a pedestrian accident, you may wish to reach out to a law firm like Ruloff, Swain, Haddad, Morecock, Talbert & Woodward, P.C. to help you out.
There is not much lighting on the northbound side of the road and it may have been difficult for a driver to see skateboarders crossing the road in the dark. We were notified of the accident after 8:30 pm and it was dark.
Shortly before we left the scene the individuals we saw at the side of the road were allowed to leave. It’s unclear if they were just witnesses, or if one of their vehicles had been involved in the collision. I did not see any damage to either vehicle though the lighting was poor and I was not allowed to get close to the vehicles.
I should also note that a reader told us:

Two teenagers on the ground by west boca medical center. Looks like they must have been hit by a car or something.

Those who have been the victim of injuries sustained by being hit by a vehicle may wish to speak with lawyers such as the ones at GJEL.com.
Also, per CBS 12: “Three people were riding skateboards in the bike lane when they were hit by the vehicle. The vehicle then fled the scene and the driver was later caught, according to The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.”