Los Angeles Car Accident & Injury Lawyer

Where Los Angeles Crashes Happen: Freeways and High Injury Streets

From 2019 through 2024, Los Angeles lost between 277 and 356 people a year on its roads. Federal crash data (NHTSA FARS) counts 1,914 traffic deaths inside the City of Los Angeles from 2019 through 2024, with 308 in 2024 alone. That one city made up about 40 percent of the 778 traffic deaths in all of LA County that year. Our freeways carry a big share of the risk. In those same federal records, US-101 had about 83 fatal crashes, I-5 about 82, I-110 about 80, I-10 about 64 and I-405 about 36. Freeways and expressways made up roughly one in four fatal crashes in the city. Surface streets are where most people die, though. Western Avenue shows up in about 38 fatal crashes, the most of any surface street in that data. Foothill Boulevard, Figueroa Street, Vermont Avenue and Normandie Avenue follow close behind. LADOT says its High Injury Network covers just 6 percent of city streets, over 450 miles, yet accounts for 70 percent of deaths and severe injuries for people walking. Pedestrians were 45 percent of all city traffic deaths over those six years and more than half in 2024. Speed played a part in 38 percent of fatal crashes, and about 71 percent happened after dark. If you were hurt on one of these roads, you are far from alone, and the pattern of where and when it happened can help prove your case.

What to Do After a Car Accident in LA, and How to Get the Report

First, call 911 and get medical care. Then figure out who wrote the report, because in Los Angeles it depends on where you crashed. LAPD handles surface streets inside the city through four Traffic Divisions. Central Traffic sits at 251 E. 6th St. downtown. South Traffic is on Crenshaw Boulevard, West Traffic is on Venice Boulevard, and Valley Traffic is in Panorama City. The California Highway Patrol covers the freeways. Its Central Los Angeles office on W. Washington Boulevard covers the I-5, I-10, US-101 and I-110. West Los Angeles covers the I-405 and I-10 and takes in LAX, and West Valley in Woodland Hills patrols part of the Valley. If you are not sure which office took your report, ask the officer or check the card you were handed. To get an LAPD report, request it online and wait at least 45 days so it can be reviewed and approved. Reports tied to an arrest, a death or a minor have to go by mail, with the request form and a $19.00 check or money order to LAPD Records and Identification Division. CHP reports come only from CHP. You can get one at any CHP office for a fee, mail a CHP 190 form to the office that wrote it, or use CHP's online Crash Report Search. One more step people miss: if anyone was hurt or killed, or property damage tops $1,000 to any one person, a driver must file an SR-1 report with the DMV within 10 days (Vehicle Code § 16000). The law lets an attorney file it for you.

Los Angeles Trauma Centers and Getting the Right Care

Where the ambulance takes you shapes your medical record, and your medical record shapes your claim. The LA County EMS Agency's hospital directory rates four hospitals that serve the city as Level I trauma centers. Los Angeles General Medical Center sits at 1200 North State Street. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is in Westwood. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is on Beverly Boulevard, and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is on West Carson Street in Torrance. Children's Hospital Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard is a Level I trauma center for kids. In the Valley, Northridge Hospital Medical Center and Providence Holy Cross in Mission Hills are Level II trauma centers. Downtown, California Hospital Medical Center on South Grand Avenue is Level II too. Not every ER is a trauma center, so do not assume the nearest hospital handled the worst injuries. If you went home from the scene and felt worse the next day, get seen right away. Gaps in treatment are one of the first things an adjuster points to when they cut an offer. Keep every discharge sheet, bill and follow-up order. Tell each doctor about every symptom, even ones that seem small, like neck stiffness or headaches. Those notes become the proof of what the crash did to you, and they carry more weight than anything you or we can say later.

Crashes With City, County or Metro Vehicles: The 6-Month Claim Rule

If a city truck, a DASH bus, a Metro bus or train, or a broken road caused your crash, the normal two-year clock does not protect you. California law says you must present a written government claim to the public agency within six months of the crash for injury or wrongful death (Gov. Code § 911.2). That is a claim to the agency, not a lawsuit. If the agency sends a written rejection, you generally have six months from that notice to sue (Gov. Code § 945.6). Miss the first deadline and you can ask to file a late claim, but no later than one year after the crash (Gov. Code § 911.4). Each agency has its own door. Claims against the City of Los Angeles go only to the Office of the City Clerk at City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, or through the Clerk's online portal. The City does not accept email or fax. County claims go to the Executive Officer of the Board of Supervisors at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 West Temple Street. Confirm that address first, since the posted form dates from 2016. Metro claims go by mail to its Office of Board Administration at One Gateway Plaza. Federal vehicles, like a mail truck, follow separate federal rules. Six months goes fast when you are hurt, so call us early.

Where a Los Angeles Personal Injury Case Gets Filed

If your case has to become a lawsuit, it usually goes to the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Against a private driver, you generally have two years from the crash to file for your injuries (Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1) and three years for damage to your car (Code Civ. Proc. § 338). The size of the case decides the courthouse. Under the court's Local Rule 2.3, unlimited civil cases for bodily injury, including motor vehicle and uninsured motorist cases, are filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street downtown, or at the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster. The court says several Stanley Mosk courtrooms hear only personal injury cases. Unlimited civil means a claim over $35,000. Cases of $35,000 or less are limited civil and go to the Spring Street Courthouse at 312 North Spring Street. Small claims caps at $12,500 for a person, and no lawyer can appear for you there. The court also announced a pilot in late 2024 that sent some motor vehicle injury cases to Van Nuys, Pomona and West Covina. We check whether it still applies before filing. California uses pure comparative fault (Li v. Yellow Cab Co.), so even if the other side blames you in part, you can still recover, reduced by your share.

How Moe Abdallah Handles Your LA Injury Claim

Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. works from 527 W 7th St, Suite 924, in downtown Los Angeles. Attorney Mohamad "Moe" Abdallah graduated from Southwestern Law School and holds California State Bar No. 348886. The firm takes motor vehicle cases only: car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, bicycle, Uber and Lyft, bus, hit-and-run, uninsured motorist and drunk driving crashes, plus wrongful death and brain injury cases that come from them. Here is what that means for you. Moe handles your case himself and keeps you posted by call and text. The consultation is free, you can reach us 24/7, and Se Habla Español. You pay no fee unless we win. Hit-and-run is a real LA problem, too. Federal data shows a hit-and-run vehicle in almost one in four fatal city crashes from 2019 through 2024. When the other driver flees or has thin coverage, Moe looks hard at your own uninsured motorist coverage. In one case, he recovered the $100,000 policy limit for a woman rear-ended by a driver who fled with no police report, after other firms turned her down. In another, the at-fault insurer offered $900, and the client ended up with $75,000 total. Past results don't guarantee a similar outcome. Call (323) 716-1992 for a free review today.