Car insurance in Hollywood, FL, where the boulevard stops for a boat.

Hollywood is a full city, and the beach is only the east end

Hollywood incorporated on November 28, 1925. The city history describes Joseph Young’s plan: one wide boulevard from the ocean toward the Everglades, with man-made lakes along both sides, and a bridge over the Intracoastal so the beach was part of the city rather than a separate town. Today the city puts its area at more than 28 square miles. The 2020–2024 Census estimates count about 155,000 residents. That is a different driving problem from Hallandale Beach, the small city on Hollywood’s southern line, or from Sunny Isles Beach, where one road does almost all the work.

The average trip to work is about 29 minutes. About one in five workers who commute is on the road 45 minutes or more, and about one in nine is out for an hour or longer. Hollywood Boulevard (SR 820) is the east–west spine. It meets I-95, the Turnpike and US 441 to the west, and it ends at A1A on the beach. In between, the boulevard crosses the Intracoastal on a bridge the state owns. The first bridge went up in 1925. FDOT replaced it in 1976 with the current double-leaf bascule: two lanes each way, and the span opens so boats can use the waterway. When the leaves are up, the boulevard stops. There is no secret lane around a raised bridge.

US-1 carries local north–south traffic on the mainland. A1A and the Broadwalk carry the beach. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport sits against the city, and Port Everglades is partly inside the city limits, so the roads also carry people who are not on a commute at all. About 40% of residents were born outside the United States. Census table C16001 counts Russian, Polish and other Slavic languages together: about 4,400 people age 5 and older, roughly 3% of that group. The count is similar to Sunny Isles Beach. The share is not, because Hollywood is much larger. A household car here is as likely to be a commuter left at a house west of I-95 as a seasonal car in a beach garage.

The minimum does not change at the bridge

A car registered in Florida needs $10,000 of PIP and $10,000 of property damage liability, kept in force. PIP is no-fault coverage of your own injuries: 80% of reasonable medical costs and 60% of lost income. It generally follows you and resident relatives when you are walking or on a bicycle. The Broadwalk and the downtown sidewalks are full of people who are not in cars. The 14-day rule for the first treatment, and the $2,500 cap unless a doctor finds an emergency medical condition, apply on Hollywood Boulevard the same way they apply everywhere else in the state. Bills to repeal PIP died in committee in March 2026.

Bodily injury liability is still optional for most drivers. The Insurance Research Council’s 2023 estimate put the share of uninsured Florida drivers at about 20.6%. UM is what pays your injuries above PIP when that driver hits you, and only if you bought bodily injury and did not reject UM in writing. Insurers must offer UM at those BI limits. If the household has more than one car, ask whether the UM is stacked. From March 24, 2023, being more than 50% at fault for your own injuries generally bars a recovery from the other driver, and the deadline for most negligence lawsuits is two years. A crash with an injury, a death, or at least $2,000 of apparent damage has to be reported to the local police or the Florida Highway Patrol.

A license from another country, a car kept in Hollywood

A visitor may drive with a valid license from home. The Florida handbook describes the non-resident papers as that license plus an International Driving Permit. The permit is a translation, not a license. Carry it when the license is not in English. Once you are a resident, you have 30 days to get a Florida license. Residency, in the handbook’s terms, includes a job, a child in public school, voter registration, a homestead filing, or more than six consecutive months here. Titling or registering the car takes Florida insurance, generally within 10 days of residency. An underwriter’s decision to accept a foreign license is not a promise this page can make. Send the license and the declarations. We will say what we can place, and we will not pretend an approval is already done.

Wind on the barrier island, water in a low garage

The city’s own history records what surge did here once. On September 18, 1926, a hurricane hit Hollywood with high wind and floodwater and killed 37 people. That is a historical fact about a low coast, not a rating factor we invent. The modern wind benchmark is Hurricane Wilma in October 2005. The National Hurricane Center judged that parts of Broward likely saw Category 2 conditions, with gusts near 100 knots at the standard 10-meter height and stronger wind on upper floors. The beach is a barrier island with a public garage at Garfield Street and a lot of cars left for the Broadwalk. The mainland side has driveways, canal edges and the lakes Young dug beside the boulevard. Comprehensive is the coverage that pays for a flooded car, a windshield broken by debris, or theft from a lot. It has to be on the policy before a storm is close. Insurers can refuse changes once a watch or a warning is up. After a crash, get medical care within 14 days so the PIP clock does not run out, and send us the claim number.

M&K Agency is family-owned, a team of 12, more than 5,000 clients across Florida. Send us your policy and we’ll check your coverage. The explanation is in English, Spanish or Russian, from a person who is still there if you file a claim.

More for this area

• Home and condo insurance in Hollywood
• Car insurance in Broward County
• Guide: hit by a driver with no insurance? (uninsured motorist coverage)
• Car accident in Miami-Dade: what to do next

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