Torrance Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

You were on your bike in Torrance, a car turned across your path or changed lanes into you, and now you are hurt, your motorcycle is wrecked, and an adjuster is already asking whether you were splitting lanes or wearing a helmet. A motorcycle accident lawyer in Torrance takes that pressure off you so you can heal. Riders get blamed first. California law hands insurers real arguments to shrink a payout, though you can still recover when you share some fault. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. is a Los Angeles motor-vehicle injury firm with a 5.0 star rating on Google. Attorney Moe Abdallah handles each case himself, updates you by call and text, and moves fast to lock down video, witnesses and the police report before they disappear. We work on contingency. The case review is free, the line is open 24/7, and you owe no fee unless we win.

Where Torrance riders get hit: Hawthorne, Crenshaw and the PCH

Torrance riders spend most of their miles on a handful of busy arterials. Hawthorne Boulevard carries about 70,000 vehicle trips a day as the gateway to Del Amo Fashion Center, according to the city. Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Western Avenue, Artesia Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway cross it, and Interstate 405, Interstate 110 and State Route 91 run through or beside town. The typical car-versus-motorcycle crash is a driver turning left in front of an oncoming rider. California law requires a left-turning driver to yield to oncoming vehicles close enough to be a hazard (Vehicle Code section 21801(a)). Then the driver says the motorcycle came out of nowhere. Other common patterns include a driver changing lanes without checking a blind spot, a car pulling out of a shopping center driveway, and a rear-end hit at a red light. The California Office of Traffic Safety counted 29 motorcyclist victims in Torrance in 2023, ranking the city 40 of 62 similar-size cities, and 31 victims in 2022, ranking it 35 of 61. A lower rank number means worse, so Torrance sits in the milder half of its group on this count. These are totals, not a list of dangerous streets.

Lane splitting and the speed argument insurers make

If you ride the 405, the 110 or the 91, expect the lane-splitting question on day one of your claim. No California statute prohibits lane splitting. Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines it and lets the CHP issue safety guidelines, but it does not expressly make the practice legal. Riders must still change lanes only when it is reasonably safe (Vehicle Code section 21658(a)) and ride at a speed that is reasonable for conditions (Vehicle Code section 22350). Insurers use those two rules to say you rode too fast between stopped cars. A driver who opens a door or swerves into your gap is a different story. The facts decide who carries the blame. California follows pure comparative negligence, so you can recover even if you share some fault, and your award is reduced by your percentage (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). If more than one party is at fault, each is responsible for non-economic damages only in proportion to its own share of fault, while medical bills and lost wages stay joint (Civil Code section 1431.2). Moe builds the speed and spacing story with video, skid marks, damage patterns and witnesses, so the adjuster's guess never becomes the official version.

Your helmet, your gear and your bike are evidence

Every rider and passenger must wear a fastened helmet that meets the standards in the Vehicle Code (section 27803). If you were not wearing one, your claim is still alive. No helmet does not bar recovery. An insurer may argue it made your head or face injuries worse and push to cut your award for that part of the harm. If you did wear one, it is proof for you. Keep it, scratches and all, and do not clean it. Keep the jacket, gloves, boots and pants too, because tears and scuffs show how you went down. Photograph your bruises and road rash every week as they change. Do not repair the motorcycle or sign a total-loss release before we inspect it. Damage on the fork, handlebar and fairing can show where the car struck you and at what angle. If the bike sits at a tow yard, storage fees grow daily, so call us early and we will help arrange a release and photos. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer. Adjusters ask riders about speed, lane position and gear in a casual tone, but the questions are not casual.

Where injured riders get treated: Harbor-UCLA, Torrance Memorial and Providence

You have no steel cage on a bike, so injuries run heavy. Road rash, broken collarbones, wrists, femurs and ankles, spinal injuries and head trauma are common. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center sits in West Carson just outside the city limits and is listed as a Level I adult and pediatric trauma center. Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance, on Torrance Boulevard, runs a 24/7 emergency department, and Torrance Memorial Medical Center on Lomita Boulevard has an emergency department too. Go to the ER the same day, even if you feel okay, and follow every referral. Gaps in treatment give insurers a reason to say you were not hurt. Costs climb fast, and many riders need surgery. In one past case, Moe handled a head-on crash with femur and ankle fractures and surgery that ended with a $30,000 policy-limit recovery. Policy limits are often the real ceiling on your recovery. California's minimum liability limits are $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident, and many drivers carry no more, so we also look at your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. In another past case, Moe obtained $75,000 in total after the at-fault insurer offered $900. Past results do not promise a similar outcome.

The police report, the SR-1 and the Torrance Courthouse

If Torrance Police Department handled your crash, you can order the collision report online through LexisNexis eCrash after at least 15 days, or request it by mail or in person from the Records Division at 3300 Civic Center Dr. with a Request for Release of Police Records form, your photo ID and an $18.00 check or money order. The Records Division phone is (310) 618-5529. If the CHP responded to a freeway crash, request the report from the CHP instead. Read it for errors in the lane positions, the point of impact and the witness list. Separately, California requires a driver in a crash with injury or more than $1,000 in property damage to file an SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days (Vehicle Code section 16000(a)). Do not skip it just because the other driver was at fault. If your case needs a lawsuit, you generally have two years from the crash (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). The Torrance Courthouse at 825 Maple Avenue lists western Torrance and nearby South Bay cities in its service area, but unlimited injury cases may be assigned to a downtown courthouse, so Moe checks the Los Angeles Superior Court's Filing Court Locator before filing.

Road defects, government claims and how Moe handles your case

Sometimes the car is not the whole story. A gouged lane, a sunken utility cover, loose gravel after road work or a broken signal can put a rider down. When a public entity may be responsible, the clock is much shorter. You must present a written claim within six months (Government Code section 911.2). Then, if the agency sends a written rejection, you have six months from that notice to sue (Government Code section 945.6). Minors do not get extra time on these claims. The City of Torrance accepts claims by mail or in person at the City Clerk's Office, 3031 Torrance Boulevard, not by email or fax, and says it processes them in four to six weeks. The city also says Caltrans, not Torrance, maintains Pacific Coast Highway, Western Avenue and Hawthorne Boulevard north of PCH, so a crash there may need a claim to the state. A public-entity case also has to prove a dangerous condition and that the agency created it or had notice in time to fix it (Government Code section 835). Moe tells you at the start whether this applies, gathers evidence fast, and answers your calls himself. Free review, no fee unless we win, and Se Habla Español.

Talk to a Torrance 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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