Wheelchair Van and Medical Transport Accident Lawyer in Palm Beach County

Written and reviewed by Shannon J. Sagan, Fla. Bar #10793. Updated: November 9, 2026.

Were you, or someone you care for, hurt riding in a wheelchair van, a stretcher van, or a ride to a medical appointment? I represent passengers hurt in non-emergency medical transport (NEMT) crashes across Palm Beach County. I am Shannon J. Sagan, Fla. Bar #10793, The Dash Cam Lawyer®. My home office is in Palm Springs, and I have practiced law for more than 21 years with a focus on vehicle injury claims. The first consultation costs nothing. Se habla español. Call 561-561-DASH (3274).

This page is about scheduled rides, not 911 calls. For an ambulance on an emergency call or a fire-rescue unit, see my ambulance and medical transport accident page. If a work truck hit the van, see my Palm Beach County commercial vehicle page.

Before any adjuster asks for your account

Hold off on calling your own insurance company until you have talked with a lawyer. Yes, your policy has a cooperation clause, but nothing in it makes you pick up the phone today. And never let any insurer, your own included, record a statement from you before you have had legal advice.

The caller may work for the van company, its broker, or the other driver, and each wants your words on tape while you are still in pain or on new medication.

Rides this page covers

Wheelchair vans with a ramp or lift, stretcher vans for riders who must lie flat, and standing trips to dialysis, therapy, or day programs. That includes Medicaid plan rides and vans run by assisted living communities, nursing homes, or companies a family pays.

The chain of companies behind a Medicaid ride

Florida Medicaid pays for non-emergency transportation for eligible people who have no other way to reach covered care, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration. The ride often passes through several hands: the health plan, a transportation broker that books trips, a local carrier that owns the van, and the driver, who may be a contractor. After a crash, each link points at the next. I pull the contracts, trip assignment, and registration so the right companies are named from the start.

Who may owe you compensation

Depending on the facts, that can be the van driver, the transport company and the van’s owner, the broker in some cases, another motorist, or, rarely, the maker of a defective tiedown or lift.

When the chair was not tied down right

A seated rider is only as safe as the floor straps and the rider’s belt. Researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute note that federal vehicle standards do not cover a wheelchair used as a seat, so industry groups wrote voluntary standards for tiedowns and occupant belts instead.

So a passenger can be badly hurt with little damage to the van. A chair that tips in a hard stop or a ramp that gives way can cause fractures or head injuries. The securement checklist, the driver’s training file, and the straps can show what went wrong.

Trip records and van video to lock down early

Transport companies keep more data than people expect, often briefly:

• Interior and road facing cameras, which often loop over.
• Trip logs with pickup times, the assigned vehicle, and driver notes.
• GPS and telematics showing speed and braking.
• Securement sheets and dispatch texts pushing the driver to hurry.
• Outside video from dash cams, traffic cameras, and businesses.

I send preservation demands to the carrier, the broker, and the owner early. My dash cam footage guide explains how video is used in a Florida claim.

The majority of medical transport cases I’ve handled throughout the years involved improperly securing, or not even securing, my client’s chair before moving. In those instances, clients have fallen backwards, or forwards onto their body and face, because their chair or seat belt was not properly secured.

PIP when you were a passenger in the van

Florida’s no-fault law, § 627.736, Fla. Stat., sets an order for which personal injury protection pays a passenger:

• You own a car that must carry PIP: your own PIP insurer pays.
• You own none, but live with a relative who does: that relative’s PIP usually pays.
• Neither applies: the PIP on the van you rode in may pay. Many NEMT riders own no car.

The same statute generally makes PIP medical benefits depend on a first visit for care within 14 days of the crash. PIP limits are low, so liability and uninsured motorist coverage matter.

If Medicaid paid for your treatment, Florida’s Medicaid Third-Party Liability Act, § 409.910, Fla. Stat., gives the state a right to be repaid from a recovery. I handle that repayment within the case.

When the van company blames someone else

Transport companies may claim the rider unbuckled or refused a shoulder belt, or blame the other motorist. Florida’s modified comparative fault rule, § 768.81(6), Fla. Stat., works this way: a rider found over half to blame for the injury collects nothing, while a share of blame at or under half lowers the award by that share. Video and company records test those claims.

Steps for the rider or the family

1. Call 911 and get the report number. A Florida crash report can be requested later.
2. Get medical care right away and tell the doctor how the chair moved.
3. Note the van company, unit number, and the plan or broker that booked the ride.
4. Photograph the straps, belt, and chair. Do not repair the chair yet.
5. Follow the insurer advice above and sign nothing.
6. Call me while the van video and trip logs still exist.

Deadlines that apply

Section 95.11(5)(a), Fla. Stat., gives you two years to file suit on most negligence claims, for crashes on or after March 24, 2023. If a county or other public agency owned the van, separate written notice rules apply; my ambulance page covers those.

How I handle an NEMT passenger claim

No one can promise how a case will end; every result turns on the facts, coverage, injuries, and proof. My process: a free consultation; mapping the ride chain from plan to driver; preservation demands and a coverage map, including PIP order and any Medicaid repayment; medical proof tied to how the chair moved; then negotiation, and suit if needed, inside the deadline.

When the facts call for it, I work with local NEMT and wheelchair securement experts I have relied on before to review the van, the straps, and the driver’s procedures.

Other pages: my Palm Springs car accident page for crashes near the home office, plus the Belle Glade car accident page for riders in the western communities.

Frequently asked questions

My mother was hurt in a wheelchair van on the way to a medical appointment. Who is responsible?

It depends on why she was hurt. If another car hit the van, that driver may be responsible. If the driver braked hard or the chair was not strapped correctly, I look first at the transport company, and sometimes the broker.

The transport company says the broker is responsible, and the broker blames the transport company. What happens now?

That finger pointing is common. I get the broker’s contract with the carrier and the trip records, then name each business the records support.

I do not own a car. Whose PIP pays my medical bills after a medical transport crash?

Under § 627.736, Fla. Stat., a passenger who owns no car that must carry PIP first looks to a resident relative’s PIP. If there is none, the PIP on the van you were riding in may pay.

Does Medicaid have to be paid back if I recover money?

Usually, yes. Under § 409.910, Fla. Stat., Medicaid can seek repayment from a recovery for crash related care it paid. I address that during the case.

The wheelchair tipped over when the driver stopped short, but the van never hit anything. Can that still be a claim?

It can be. In Florida, a common carrier, meaning a business that offers rides to the public for pay, owes its passengers the highest degree of care for their safety. A Florida appeals court has applied that standard to ambulance services, but a van that only carries one facility’s own patients may owe ordinary reasonable care instead. Which standard applies depends on how the van company operates. Either way, a chair that tips during a stop may point to a securement or driving failure. The straps, the van video, and the trip log help show what happened.

How much does it cost to talk with you about a transport van injury?

Nothing. The consultation is free, and if you hire me it is on contingency: no fee unless I recover for you. No recovery, no fees or costs.

Hurt in a wheelchair van or medical transport ride? Call me

The first conversation with me is free. Call 561-561-DASH (3274). Contingency fee: no fee unless I recover for you. No recovery, no fees or costs.

The Dash Cam Lawyer®
Shannon J. Sagan, Fla. Bar #10793
Palm Springs office: 3003 S. Congress Ave Suite 2E, Palm Springs, FL 33461
Belle Glade office: 1100 South Main Street, Belle Glade, FL 33430 (by appointment)
Phone: 561-561-DASH (3274)

This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.