Van Nuys Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Riders in Van Nuys share the road with commuters on the San Diego Freeway (I-405), buses heading to the G Line station on Van Nuys Boulevard and traffic on Sepulveda Boulevard, Victory Boulevard and Sherman Way. You have no metal frame around you, so a crash a car driver walks away from can leave you with broken bones, road rash or a brain injury. If you are searching for a Van Nuys motorcycle accident attorney, you also know what comes next. An adjuster blames the rider. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. handles motor-vehicle injury cases only, and Moe works your file personally. The first call is free, any hour, Se Habla Español, and you owe nothing unless he wins. Below you will find how rider crashes happen here, the rules insurers twist, who writes your report, where you get care, and the deadlines you must meet.

Freeway riding on the 405 and lane splitting arguments

The I-405 runs through Van Nuys, and the Ventura Freeway (US-101), the Hollywood Freeway (SR-170) and the Golden State Freeway (I-5) are close. Many local riders use them daily, and lane splitting comes up in slow stop-and-go traffic. California has no statute that bans it. Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines lane splitting and lets the CHP issue safety guidelines, but riders must still change lanes only when it is reasonably safe (section 21658) and ride at a safe speed (section 22350). Adjusters treat that as a license to blame you. They say you were between cars, so you share fault. California follows pure comparative negligence, so partial fault shrinks your award but does not bar it. The fight is over the percentage. We reconstruct the crash with the bike's damage, the car's event data recorder, any dash camera footage and witnesses who saw the car swing into your path. We also point out that a driver changing lanes without checking is breaking the same safe-movement rule. Do not say you were splitting lanes or going a certain speed to anyone before you call us.

Left turns, sudden lane changes and the crashes that hit riders hardest

The most common car-versus-motorcycle crash is a left turn. A driver turns across your path and says they never saw you. A turning driver must yield to oncoming vehicles close enough to be a hazard (Vehicle Code section 21801), and a motorcycle counts. In Van Nuys that pattern shows up where the boulevards meet. Van Nuys Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Victory Boulevard, Oxnard Street, Vanowen Street, Sherman Way and Roscoe Boulevard all stack signals, turn lanes and driveways close together. We have not found city data ranking any of these streets as the worst for riders, so we will not claim one. We also see drivers drift into a rider's lane, open a door into traffic and rear-end a rider at a stop. Insurers say you were hard to see or going too fast. We answer with physical evidence and one question: what was the driver looking at? One client with a head-on crash and femur and ankle fractures needed surgery, and Moe recovered a $30,000 policy limit. Past results do not predict a similar outcome.

Helmets, uninsured drivers and the rules that shrink a rider's claim

Every rider and passenger must wear a fastened, properly fitting helmet that meets state safety standards (Vehicle Code section 27803). Skipping one does not bar your claim under pure comparative negligence. An insurer may argue it made your head injuries worse and try to cut your award, so we make it prove that link. If you were wearing one, say so and keep the helmet, because it can show the force of the impact. Proposition 213 is another trap. If you owned an uninsured vehicle, or you were driving without financial responsibility, you generally cannot recover pain and suffering. A rider with a current policy avoids that problem. If the driver who hit you has no insurance or too little, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may pay. California's minimum liability limits are only $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident, which often will not cover a rider's hospital stay. Moe recovered $105,000 for an uninsured client with a broken sternum, covering hospital bills and future treatment, and past results do not predict a similar outcome.

Road defects and City of Los Angeles claims

Sometimes the road itself throws you. Potholes, loose gravel, a sunken utility cover or a badly marked lane can cause a loss of control that a car driver would not notice. Van Nuys is inside the City of Los Angeles, so claims about public roads go to the City. You must present a written claim on the City's official Claim for Damages form to the City Clerk, online at claims.lacity.org or at City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, and a claim for injury must be filed no later than six months after the crash (Government Code section 911.2). If the City rejects the claim in writing, you have six months from that notice to sue (section 945.6). That is far shorter than the two years you get against a private driver (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). To win, you must also show the City created the danger or had notice of it in time to fix it (Government Code section 835), so photos of the defect, the exact location and the date matter. Take them as soon as it is safe, then call us. We help you file the claim and track the deadlines, so a missed date does not end your case.

Reports, treatment and what to do right after a rider goes down

Call 911 and stay still if you may have a spine or head injury. LAPD's Van Nuys Community Police Station, 6240 Sylmar Ave., covers the area, and LAPD asks you to wait at least 45 days after the crash before requesting a collision report online. Reports that involve an arrest, a fatality or a juvenile must be requested by mail. Get the report number from the officer and take photos of the scene, the bike, your gear and your injuries. Valley Presbyterian Hospital at 15107 Vanowen St. is a 350-bed hospital with an emergency department, and we have not verified it as a trauma center, so paramedics may choose another hospital for a serious injury. Tell every provider the injury came from a motorcycle crash. Rider injuries often include fractures, road rash, spinal injuries and traumatic brain injury, and some symptoms surface later. File the SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days if anyone was hurt or damage topped $1,000 (Vehicle Code section 16000). Do not repair the bike until it has been photographed and inspected.

How Moe handles a Van Nuys motorcycle case

Moe takes your call himself and updates you by call and text. He starts with preservation. That means letters to hold video, and keeping the bike itself as evidence. He gathers your medical bills, wage records and repair estimates, then deals with the adjuster so you do not have to. A case from Van Nuys may be heard at Van Nuys Courthouse East, 6230 Sylmar Ave., in the Superior Court's Northwest District, but the court's own site did not confirm venue for unlimited civil cases, so Moe checks before filing. Most claims settle, and Moe builds the file as if a jury will decide it. He takes only motor-vehicle injury cases, so every hour goes to crash law. The fee is contingency, so you pay nothing unless he wins. Call (323) 716-1992 for a free case review. We will tell you plainly where your claim stands and what the insurer will likely argue.

Talk to a Van Nuys 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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