Encino Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

You ride Ventura Boulevard, cut over to Balboa Boulevard, or take the 101 toward the 405, and one driver who never looked changes your life. Riders in Encino share crowded streets with cars pulling out of lots, turning left across traffic, and merging on the freeways. After the crash, the insurer often tries a second hit: you were speeding, you were splitting lanes, your helmet was wrong. A motorcycle accident lawyer answers that attack. Attorney Moe Abdallah handles motor vehicle injury cases only, and he takes rider cases personally. He gathers video, works the LAPD report, and builds your claim around what your injuries will cost over the long run, not just this month. Call (323) 716-1992 any hour. Your review is free, and you pay no fee unless he wins. This page covers the roads, the rules, and the first steps for Encino riders.

Riding Ventura Boulevard: driveways, stoplights and the Densmore crash

Ventura Boulevard is Encino's main commercial street, and it is lined with parking lots, driveways, restaurants and traffic signals. For a rider, every driveway is a place where a car can roll out in front of you. Cross streets such as Balboa Boulevard, White Oak Avenue, Louise Avenue, Hayvenhurst Avenue and Densmore Avenue add more intersections where drivers turn across your path. Sepulveda Boulevard, Burbank Boulevard and Victory Boulevard carry more of the same. We do not have a verified crash ranking for Encino streets, so we will not call any road a hotspot. What we can point to is a single recent incident. FOX 11 reported that a two-vehicle crash at Ventura Boulevard and Densmore Avenue on Sept. 12, 2026 killed one woman and injured six people. That is one event, not a trend. It does show how quickly a routine intersection turns into a serious crash. Drivers who hit riders often say they never saw the bike. That does not excuse the driver. California requires drivers to travel at a speed that is safe for conditions (Vehicle Code section 22350), and every driver must look before turning or pulling out. We move fast to photograph the scene, find camera footage from shops along the boulevard, and lock down witnesses.

Left turns, door-zone drift and the "I never saw him" story

The classic rider crash is the left turn. A driver turning left must yield to oncoming vehicles close enough to be a hazard (Vehicle Code section 21801(a)). On a boulevard with left-turn pockets and mid-block driveways, a rider coming straight through can be hit before there is time to brake. The driver's statement is nearly always the same: I looked, I did not see the motorcycle. Other patterns show up in rider cases. A driver passing a rider must do so at a safe distance and without cutting back in (Vehicle Code section 21750(a)). A car changing lanes on a marked multi-lane road may not leave its lane until the move can be made with reasonable safety (Vehicle Code section 21658(a)). A person leaving a parking lot pulls into the lane without checking. A passenger opens a door. A driver glances at a phone and drifts. Speed becomes the next fight. Insurers claim the rider was going too fast to stop. The answer is evidence: skid marks, damage patterns, the bike's final position and, when needed, an accident reconstruction. If the other driver was working, such as a delivery driver or a rideshare driver, a company policy may also be in play. We find out early, because the larger policy changes what your case can recover.

Filtering on the 101 and 405, and the fault argument that follows

US-101, the Ventura Freeway, and I-405, the San Diego Freeway, are where most Encino riders meet stop-and-go traffic. Lane splitting is the first thing adjusters raise. They say you were riding between cars, so the crash is on you. The law is friendlier to riders than they admit. No California statute bans lane splitting. Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines it and lets the CHP issue safety guidelines. That does not make every instance reasonable. Riders must still change lanes only when it is reasonably safe and keep a safe speed. On a packed freeway the question is how fast you were going compared with the cars around you, and whether the driver swerved into your path without checking a mirror. If a car drifted over while you rode carefully between slow lanes, that driver can carry most of the blame. If you were weaving at high speed, an insurer will say so, and that can lower your payout. California uses pure comparative negligence. You can recover even if you were partly at fault, and your award is reduced by your share (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). So the real fight is over percentages. Moe uses vehicle damage, witness statements and video to push your share as low as the facts allow.

Your helmet, your bike and your medical chart are all evidence

California requires every rider and passenger to wear a fastened, properly fitting helmet that meets state standards (Vehicle Code section 27803). If you were not wearing one, your claim does not end. The insurer will argue that the missing helmet made your injuries worse and ask for a reduction under comparative fault. Moe looks at what injuries actually happened and whether a helmet would have changed them. Keep your gear. Do not clean the helmet, jacket or gloves, and do not repair the bike until it has been photographed and inspected. Scrapes, cracks and scuffs show how you fell and which direction the impact came from. A downloaded data record from the bike, if it has one, can also help. Medical records tell the rest of the story. Encino Hospital Medical Center is at 16237 Ventura Blvd., and Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center and Northridge Hospital Medical Center are nearby. Riders often suffer road rash, broken wrists, legs and collarbones, spinal injuries and head injuries. Tell every provider how you were hurt and what hurts now. Follow the treatment plan. Skipped appointments give adjusters an easy argument that you were not really hurt, and brain injuries can show up days later.

When the driver has no insurance or too little

Many riders find out after the crash that the other driver carries almost nothing. California's minimum liability limits are $30,000 per person and $60,000 per crash for policies issued or renewed since Jan. 1, 2025. A rider with a fractured femur can exhaust that quickly. That is why your own coverage matters. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, called UM and UIM, can pay when the other driver has none or too little. Check your motorcycle policy and your auto policy now, because some riders carry UM on the bike and some do not. The same applies if a driver hits you and flees. Your UM coverage can respond, but only if you follow the rules: physical contact, a police report within 24 hours, and a sworn statement to your insurer within 30 days (Insurance Code section 11580.2). Proposition 213 can also limit a claim. If you owned an uninsured vehicle involved in the crash, or rode without proof of insurance, you generally cannot recover pain and suffering, with a narrow exception when the other driver is convicted of DUI (Civil Code section 3333.4). Moe checks all of this in the first call. Past results do not predict a similar outcome, but he has recovered $25,000 policy limits plus a totaled car reimbursement, and $75,000 total after an insurer offered $900.

LAPD reports, deadlines and the courthouse for Encino riders

LAPD takes crash reports on Encino streets. On the 101 or the 405, the report may come from the California Highway Patrol instead, so check which agency responded. The West Valley Community Police Station, at 19020 Vanowen St. in Reseda, serves the area and answers at 818-374-7611, and Valley Traffic Division, at 7870 Nollan Place in Panorama City, handles traffic work for the Valley. Request your Traffic Collision Report online through LAPD and allow at least 45 days. Reports with an arrest, a fatality or a juvenile must be requested by mail with a $19.00 check or money order payable to LAPD, sent to the Document Processing Unit, P.O. Box 30158. You generally have two years from the crash to sue a private party (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). If a City of Los Angeles vehicle or a bad road condition is involved, you must file a claim with the City Clerk within six months. Use claims.lacity.org or mail it to City Clerk, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, Los Angeles, CA 90012. After a written rejection, you have six months to sue (Government Code section 945.6). Under LA Superior Court Local Rule 2.3 (2022 text), unlimited civil injury cases are filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street, or the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster, not at the closer Van Nuys courthouse. The court's filing locator confirms the right one for your case. Moe's office is downtown at 527 W 7th St, Ste 924. He handles your case personally, keeps you updated by call and text, and charges nothing unless he wins.

Talk to a Encino motorcycle 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 motorcycle accidents representation →

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