Sherman Oaks Hit and Run Lawyer

If a driver hit you in Sherman Oaks and kept going, you are likely angry, hurting, and asking who pays. Short answer: California treats a fled driver as uninsured, so your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage often pays for your injuries. That coverage runs on two clocks. You must report the crash to police within 24 hours and file a sworn statement with your insurer within 30 days. Miss either one and the insurer can refuse the claim. Below, you will see how a hit and run lawyer handles those steps after crashes on Ventura Boulevard, Van Nuys Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, and around the 101 and 405. You will also learn how LAPD reports work, which evidence disappears fast, and what happens if the driver turns up later. Moe Abdallah takes these calls himself. Call (323) 716-1992 any time, day or night. The review is free, and you pay nothing unless he wins.

Two clocks that start the minute a Sherman Oaks driver flees

Most fled-driver claims are won or lost in the first month. Under Insurance Code section 11580.2, an unidentified vehicle counts as uninsured only if three things are true. Your injury came from physical contact with that vehicle. You reported the crash within 24 hours to the city police. And you filed a sworn statement with your own insurer within 30 days after that report. In Sherman Oaks, the city police means LAPD. The 24-hour report is a legal condition, not a suggestion, so make the call from the scene or the emergency room if you can. Contact matters too. If a car swerved, you braked, and you went down without being touched, the insurer may say the vehicle never made contact. Witnesses, paint transfer, and photos of damage can prove touch when you cannot. UM coverage pays for your bodily injury. It does not pay for your car, so you look to collision coverage for that. You also have two years to sue under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, and a UM claim has its own two-year trigger in section 11580.2(i). Moe calendars every one of these dates on day one, so you never guess which deadline hits first.

Van Nuys Station, Valley Traffic and getting your collision report

Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles, so crashes here go to LAPD. The Van Nuys Community Police Station at 6240 Sylmar Ave. covers the area and sends traffic matters to LAPD Valley Traffic Division. The station's number is 818-374-9500. LAPD's station page links to a form for requesting a traffic collision report, and you can ask for a report number at the scene. That report does real work in a hit and run. It is your proof that you reported within 24 hours. It also records the witnesses, the time, and any partial plate. Check it for errors early. Officers sometimes write the other vehicle as unknown when a witness gave a color and make, and a wrong detail can cost you later. If you could not call from the scene, call LAPD as soon as you can and get a report number in writing or by text. California law also asks you to send the DMV an SR-1 within 10 days when a crash injures anyone or causes more than $1,000 in damage (Vehicle Code section 16000). Moe's office can help you with that form and with the sworn statement your insurer needs, so both are filed correctly and on time.

Ventura, Van Nuys and Sepulveda Boulevards: finding a driver who fled

The fastest way to lose a hit and run case is to wait on evidence. Surveillance video gets overwritten, often within days. Along Ventura Boulevard, Van Nuys Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Magnolia Boulevard, and Burbank Boulevard, you pass restaurants, banks, gas stations, and apartment buildings with their own cameras. Walk the block, or send someone for you, and ask who keeps footage and for how long. Ask for a copy in writing and a name to follow up with. Look for other leads. A rideshare or delivery driver may have a dash camera. Bus operators on LA Metro lines that run these streets, such as Line 233 on Van Nuys and Sepulveda Boulevards and Line 234 on Sepulveda Boulevard, may have onboard video, though Metro decides what to keep and release. Metro and the businesses will not always respond to an ordinary request, which is why a lawyer's preservation letter helps. Paint chips, broken lens pieces, and debris left at the scene can identify a make and model. Photograph them before the street gets swept. Moe sends preservation letters fast and tracks down witnesses who left a number with nobody. If a plate turns up, the claim shifts to the driver's insurer, and your own UM coverage stays as the backup.

What one reported Van Nuys Boulevard hit and run shows about these cases

Not every Sherman Oaks hit and run involves a car hitting a car. KTLA reported that around 12:05 a.m. on October 19, 2025, a southbound black Tesla Model Y struck a 62-year-old man on Van Nuys Boulevard just south of Huston Street and left. LAPD Valley Traffic Division investigated. That is one reported incident, not a trend. We cite it because these cases often start the same way: late at night, few witnesses, a driver who does not stop, and a victim who cannot speak for himself. When the person hit is on foot, the same two rules apply. The 24-hour report and 30-day sworn statement protect a UM claim, and the contact requirement is usually easy to meet because the pedestrian was struck. If a loved one died after a fled-driver crash, a separate wrongful death claim may exist, and the criminal case is a different track. Fleeing a crash that causes death or permanent, serious injury can mean two, three, or four years in prison under Vehicle Code section 20001(b). A criminal case helps identify the driver, but it does not pay your bills. The civil claim does. Moe can pursue the civil side while detectives work the criminal one.

Treatment at Sherman Oaks Hospital, Holy Cross and Encino, and why records matter

Hit and run injuries run serious because you often get no warning. Riders, walkers, and people in parked or stopped cars take hits that cause fractures, spinal injuries, and head trauma. Sherman Oaks Hospital at 4929 Van Nuys Blvd. has an emergency department. Encino Hospital Medical Center on Ventura Boulevard offers 24-hour emergency care. For the most serious injuries, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills is a Level II trauma center. Ambulance crews decide where to take you, so you do not need to choose from the street. Tell every provider the injury came from a car crash and describe each symptom, even small ones. Insurers comb your medical chart for gaps. A week with no treatment becomes a claim that you healed. Follow up with your own doctor, keep appointment cards and bills, and note days of missed work. Your claim can include medical bills, future treatment, lost income, and pain and suffering, subject to your policy limits. If your policy carries med-pay coverage, it may pay bills quickly while the UM claim develops. You heal. Moe builds the file.

UM limits, Prop 213 and how Moe handles a fled-driver claim

Your UM limits cap what your own insurer pays, whether the driver fled down Ventura Boulevard or onto the 101. California's minimum auto limits are $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident, and UM coverage cannot be lower than those minimums. Many drivers carry only that much. Moe recovered a $100,000 policy-limit UM settlement for a woman rear-ended by a driver who fled with no police report, after other firms turned her down. Past results don't promise a similar outcome. Every case turns on its own facts, so do not use hers as a reason to skip the 24-hour LAPD report. Expect pushback. Adjusters will question whether contact happened, whether you reported on time, and whether you were partly at fault. California follows pure comparative negligence, so being partly to blame reduces your award instead of ending it (Li v. Yellow Cab Co.). Proposition 213 can bar pain and suffering damages if you owned an uninsured vehicle involved in the crash, so tell Moe about your own coverage up front. Moe starts with your policy. He reviews it, confirms the 24-hour report and 30-day statement, sends preservation letters, gathers witness statements, and handles the insurer so you do not give a recorded statement alone. Calls and texts go to you, not a case manager. You pay no fee unless he wins.

Talk to a Sherman Oaks hit-and-run accident lawyer

Call (323) 716-1992 for a free, no-obligation case review. You pay nothing unless we win, and we'll handle the insurance companies for you. Learn more about our hit-and-run representation →

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