Torrance Hit and Run Lawyer

Someone hit you on Hawthorne Boulevard, Crenshaw Boulevard or Pacific Coast Highway and kept going. You are hurt, your car or bike may be wrecked, and no one has given you a name, a plate or an insurance card. A hit and run lawyer in Torrance starts with the clock. California gives you a short window to report the crash and notify your own insurer. Miss it and you can lose coverage you paid for. Torrance Police Department writes the report on city streets. The evidence that could identify the driver, like store video and dashcam footage, gets erased fast. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. is a Los Angeles motor-vehicle injury firm. Attorney Moe Abdallah takes these calls himself, day or night, and goes after video and witnesses first. If the driver is found, we go after their insurance. If not, we pursue your uninsured motorist claim. The consultation is free and you pay no fee unless we recover money for you.

How often drivers flee in Torrance, and where it happens

Fleeing drivers are not everywhere in Torrance, and you should hear that before anyone sells you a scary story. In the California Office of Traffic Safety 2023 rankings for 62 cities of similar size, Torrance had 7 hit-and-run collisions, which put it at 62 of 62 on a scale where a lower number is worse. That is the most favorable rank in its group. It does not make the driver who hit you any less real. It suggests these crashes are less common here than in similar cities, so Torrance Police Department may have few leads, and your own evidence counts for more. The cases that do happen follow the traffic. Hawthorne Boulevard carries about 70,000 vehicle trips a day, according to the city, and Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard and Western Avenue feed Interstate 405, Interstate 110 and State Route 91. A driver can leave a main street or reach a freeway ramp in under a minute. One example reported by ABC7 in April 2025: a pedestrian fell into the lanes of Pacific Coast Highway near Ocean Avenue and was struck and killed in a hit and run involving several vehicles, and one person was arrested for DUI. That was one crash, not a ranking of dangerous roads.

The 24 hour report and the 30 day sworn statement

If the driver is never found, your own uninsured motorist coverage is often the only policy that can pay. California treats an unidentified hit and run vehicle as uninsured only if three things happen. First, your injury must come from physical contact with that vehicle. Second, you must report the crash within 24 hours to city police, or to the sheriff or CHP if it happened outside city limits. Third, you must file a sworn statement with your insurer within 30 days after that report (Insurance Code section 11580.2(b)). These are conditions of coverage, not suggestions. In Torrance, call 911 from the scene so Torrance Police Department opens a report on a city street. If the crash happened on a freeway stretch patrolled by the CHP, make sure the CHP documents it. If you are not sure which agency counts, make the report anyway and call us the same day. Moe checks that the report you made satisfies the statute and then prepares the sworn statement so it matches the facts. The other driver had a separate duty. California law required them to stop, share their information and help you (Vehicle Code sections 20001 and 20003). Leaving broke it.

Getting your Torrance Police Department collision report

You will need the report to prove the crash happened and to show your insurer you reported it on time. Torrance Police Department takes online requests through LexisNexis eCrash. Plan on waiting at least 15 days after the crash before it is available, and expect a convenience fee. The LexisNexis help desk number is 1-866-215-2771. You can also ask for a copy by mail or in person from the TPD Records Division, 3300 Civic Center Dr., Torrance, CA 90503. Bring a Request for Release of Police Records form, a copy of your photo ID and an $18.00 check or money order. The Records Division phone is (310) 618-5529. Reports go only to drivers, vehicle owners, injured people, their authorized representatives and others who may face civil liability, so a lawyer can request it for you. Read it when it arrives. Officers sometimes write down a vehicle description, a partial plate or a witness name that you never saw yourself. If your own statement has mistakes, fix them early. If no report exists because no officer came out, tell us right away, because we will help you file one and document the 24 hour deadline.

Finding the driver who fled: video, debris and witnesses

Speed matters most here. Stores and banks along Hawthorne Boulevard, Torrance Boulevard and the Del Amo Fashion Center area often overwrite their camera footage within days. Moe sends preservation letters quickly and, where it makes sense, asks the businesses and nearby property managers to save the clips. He also looks for what the other car left behind. Paint transfer, broken headlight pieces and a license plate fragment can narrow a make and model. Dashcams from other drivers and doorbell cameras on nearby homes may show the car before or after the impact. Witnesses matter too. Ask anyone who stopped for a name and number, and write down what they saw while it is fresh in your mind. Do not confront anyone or post the crash on social media. If TPD identifies a suspect, that criminal case can run for months and a conviction does not pay your medical bills. Your civil claim runs on its own track. If the driver is found and insured, we claim against that policy. If they are found and uninsured, your UM coverage still applies. Either way the same evidence builds the case.

When no one is ever found, your own policy steps in

In many hit and run cases, no one ever learns who did it. Your claim then runs against your own insurer, and that insurer is not on your side. Adjusters hunt for any gap. They may argue there was no physical contact, that you reported it late, or that you caused the crash by swerving. Uninsured motorist coverage does not pay for damage to your vehicle, only for your bodily injuries (Insurance Code section 11580.2(c)). You also face a hard deadline. Within two years of the crash you must file suit, agree on the amount with your insurer, or start arbitration by certified mail, return receipt requested (section 11580.2(i)). The ordinary injury lawsuit deadline is also two years (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). California minimum auto liability limits are $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident, and UM coverage can be no lower. If you own an uninsured vehicle, a rule called Proposition 213 generally bars non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, so tell us your coverage status on the first call. In one past case, 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 do not promise a similar outcome.

Injuries, Torrance hospitals and who pays while you heal

If someone left you at the scene, you are often hurt worse than you first think. Adrenaline hides pain, and a whiplash injury or a concussion can show up the next day. Get checked the same day. Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance, 4101 Torrance Boulevard, runs a 24/7 emergency department and is a Comprehensive Stroke Center. Torrance Memorial Medical Center on Lomita Boulevard has an emergency department too. For the most serious trauma, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center sits just outside the city limits in West Carson and is listed as a Level I adult and pediatric trauma center. Medical records that tie your injury to the crash date are some of the strongest proof of contact in a no-plate case. If a city vehicle or a road defect played a part, a different clock applies. You must present a written claim to the City of Torrance City Clerk, 3031 Torrance Boulevard, within six months (Government Code section 911.2). Caltrans maintains Pacific Coast Highway, Western Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard north of PCH, so a crash there may need a state claim. Moe will confirm the right courthouse with the court locator before he files your lawsuit. You pay nothing up front.

Talk to a Torrance 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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