I'm Mike Rivera, the lead dispatcher at Gulf Coast Towing & Recovery, and US-19 is the stretch of road I get the most calls about. It's six lanes of fast-moving traffic cutting right through Palm Harbor, Clearwater, and the rest of Pinellas County, and when something goes wrong on it, every decision you make in the first ten minutes matters. This guide is everything I'd tell a family member if they called me from the side of US-19 after a crash.
No. Florida law gives you the right to choose your own towing company as long as you can arrange it in a reasonable time. Tell the responding officer you already have a tow on the way from Gulf Coast Towing & Recovery and they'll almost always wait.
From our Palm Harbor base, our average response time anywhere on US-19 between Tarpon Springs and North Clearwater is 25 to 35 minutes. Farther south toward Largo or Seminole adds 10 to 15 minutes.
Stay inside with your seatbelt on, turn on hazards, and call 911 immediately. Do not get out of the vehicle on US-19 if you're injured — wait for first responders to arrive and secure the scene.
24/7 Dispatch: (727) 279-5431