Los Angeles Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
If you were struck by a vehicle while walking in Los Angeles, Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. pursues the driver for your injuries and holds insurers accountable. California law strongly protects pedestrians. Free consultation, no fee unless we win.
A pedestrian accident lawyer in Los Angeles protects you the moment a driver hits you on foot, before the insurer can shift blame onto you. At Moe Abdallah Law, P.C., we step in right away. One second you're crossing the street. The next, you're on the pavement, and the driver's insurance company is already building a case against you. You face a hospital stay, missed work, and injuries that may never fully heal. On foot, you had nothing but your own body to take the impact, so the stakes could not be higher. We act right away. We investigate the crash, save the footage and evidence that proves what really happened, shut down the insurer's tactics, and fight for the full value of your injuries. California law strongly protects people on foot, and we put that protection to work for you. You pay no fee unless we win your pedestrian case.
Where people on foot get hit across Los Angeles
People on foot make up the largest share of traffic deaths in Los Angeles. Federal crash data from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) shows that 869 of the 1,914 people killed in City of Los Angeles traffic crashes from 2019 through 2024 were pedestrians. That's 45 percent. In 2024 alone, pedestrians were 156 of 308 deaths, more than half. The danger isn't spread evenly. LADOT says its High Injury Network covers just 6 percent of city streets, over 450 miles, yet it accounts for 70 percent of deaths and severe injuries for people walking. LADOT's 2024 map lists Western Avenue, Figueroa Street and Vermont Avenue among its longest stretches for pedestrians and bicyclists. Western Avenue also shows up in about 38 fatal crashes in our tally of FARS records for 2019 to 2024, more than any other surface street in the city. On Adams Boulevard between Crenshaw Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, LADOT's Adams Boulevard Safety Project counted 10 deaths from 2009 to 2019, and 6 of them were pedestrians. Time of day matters too. In the same federal data, 71 percent of the city's fatal crashes happened after dark. About 48 percent of those with a known hour came between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. So if a driver hit you at night on one of these corridors, you're far from alone. We put that record in front of the insurer. It answers the old line that nobody could have seen you coming, because the city itself has flagged these streets. Our 2025 street-by-street crash data shows which surface streets had the most crashes involving people on foot.
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Your LAPD collision report: which division, how to order it, and when
Most pedestrian crashes happen on surface streets, so the Los Angeles Police Department usually writes the report. LAPD has four Traffic Divisions. Central Traffic Division at 251 E. 6th St. covers the Central, Hollenbeck, Newton, Northeast and Rampart areas. South Traffic Division at 4125 S. Crenshaw Blvd. handles the 77th Street, Harbor, Southeast and Southwest areas. Hollywood, Olympic, Pacific, West Los Angeles and Wilshire fall to the West Traffic Division, 4849 Venice Blvd. Valley Traffic Division at 7870 Nollan Place in Panorama City covers the Valley areas, including Van Nuys, Topanga, Mission and North Hollywood. You can request your report online through LAPD's portal, which runs through LexisNexis in English or Spanish. Give it at least 45 days after the crash, since LAPD must review and approve the report first. Some reports can't go out online at all. If the crash involved an arrest, a death or a juvenile, you must order it by U.S. Mail. Send LAPD's Traffic Collision Report Request form with a $19 check or money order, payable to the LAPD, to Records and Identification Division, Document Processing Unit, P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030. No cash. For status updates, LAPD's recorded line is (213) 486-8130. If you were hit on a freeway, the California Highway Patrol writes the report instead, and you get it from the CHP office that handled the call. We order the report for our clients and read it line by line. A wrong diagram or a missing witness name can cost you, so we catch it early.
Trauma centers that treat pedestrians hit in LA
A car hitting a person on foot often sends that person to a trauma center. The trauma centers that serve the city appear in the LA County EMS Agency's receiving hospital directory. Los Angeles General Medical Center at 1200 North State Street, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Beverly Boulevard, and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance are Level I trauma centers. Children's Hospital Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard is the pediatric Level I center. Dignity Health-California Hospital Medical Center on South Grand Avenue, Dignity Health-Northridge Hospital Medical Center and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills are Level II. Some well-known hospitals, like Hollywood Presbyterian, Valley Presbyterian and the Kaiser hospitals on Sunset and in Panorama City and Woodland Hills, carry no trauma level in that directory. That's fine if you went there. Just know your records may be split across two or three places. These units treat the injuries pedestrians suffer: head trauma, broken legs and hips, spinal injuries and internal bleeding. Your trauma chart becomes the spine of your claim. It records how you arrived, your blood pressure and pulse, the scans, and each surgeon's notes. Ask for the paramedic run report too. It often notes where you were found and what you said at the scene, which can shut down a later claim that you walked into traffic. Keep every discharge sheet and every bill, even small ones. We request the full chart from each hospital ourselves, so nothing falls through the cracks when you move from the ER to surgery to rehab.
A city truck, a dead signal or a county road: claims against the government in LA
Sometimes the driver who hit you works for the city. Sometimes a broken signal or a blocked sightline set up the crash. Either way, you're now dealing with a public entity, and the clock runs much faster. You must present a written claim within six months of the injury (Government Code § 911.2). If the agency sends a written rejection, you have six months from that notice to file suit (Government Code § 945.6). A claim about a dangerous condition of public property must also meet Government Code § 835, including proof that the agency created the problem or knew about it in time to fix it. A child's claim gets no extra time here (Code Civ. Proc. § 352(b)). For the City of Los Angeles, including city vehicles, city workers and defects on city streets, only the Office of the City Clerk can accept your claim. File it online through the Claim for Damages portal, mail the signed form, or bring it to City Hall at 200 North Spring Street, Room 395. Enter on Main Street, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Don't email or fax it; the Clerk won't accept either. Questions go to (213) 978-1133. The City Attorney says no other office can take a claim against the City, not even the City Attorney. For a county vehicle or a county road in an unincorporated area, the County's form goes to the Executive Officer, Board of Supervisors, Attention: Claims, 500 West Temple Street, Room 383. Because the County's form is from 2016, check the address before you send it. If an LA Metro bus hit you, Metro has its own Claim for Damages form. We file the right form with the right office, well inside the window.
Filing your pedestrian injury suit at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse
If your claim doesn't settle, the lawsuit almost always goes to the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Under the court's Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A), unlimited civil injury cases, including motor vehicle personal injury and wrongful death, are filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles, or at the Michael D. Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster. According to the court's Civil Division, several Stanley Mosk courtrooms are set aside for personal injury cases alone. In November 2024 the court announced a pilot that sends some new motor vehicle injury cases to courthouses in Van Nuys, Pomona and West Covina. We check whether that pilot still applies when we file. Unlimited civil means more than $35,000, and most serious pedestrian injuries clear that line. A pedestrian case worth $35,000 or less is limited civil and goes to the Spring Street Courthouse at 312 North Spring Street. Long before trial, we build the proof a downtown jury will see. That means the LAPD report and diagram, scene photos, crosswalk signal timing, and video from shops and homes along the block. LAPD's open-data file listed 56,628 reported collisions in 2019, about 155 a day. With that many crashes, you can't count on anyone else to find the camera before it records over the footage. So we go door to door ourselves, the first week. We send preservation letters to the driver, the insurer and any business with a lens pointed at the street. Then we line it all up with your medical records, so the case is ready if the insurer won't pay what it owes.
California law protects pedestrians, and we make it work for you
California law puts the duty on the driver, and our Los Angeles pedestrian accident lawyer holds them to it. Under California Vehicle Code § 21950(a), drivers must yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing in any marked crosswalk, or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. A driver approaching you in a crosswalk must use all due care and slow down or take other action needed to keep you safe (§ 21950(c)). That duty doesn't stop the moment you step outside the painted lines. Vehicle Code § 21954(b) still requires a driver to use due care for the safety of any pedestrian on the roadway, so a driver who was speeding, texting, distracted, or impaired can be liable even if you weren't in a crosswalk at all. You have a duty to use due care for your own safety too (§ 21950(b)), but the law expects the person driving a two-ton machine to watch for the people around them. When a driver rolls through a crosswalk, turns left across your path without looking, backs out of a driveway, or runs a red light, they break that duty. The fact that you were walking rather than driving does not weaken your right to be paid. We pull signal-timing data, traffic-camera and nearby-business footage, cell-phone records where distraction is suspected, and independent witness statements to show exactly what happened. Much of that evidence gets erased within days, and camera systems record over their own footage on short loops. That's why moving fast to save it matters so much.
Why pedestrian injuries are so severe
Pedestrian injuries turn severe because your body takes the full force of the crash. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation reports that nearly half the people killed in LA traffic crashes were walking or bicycling. The city's Vision Zero program maps a High Injury Network of streets where severe and fatal crashes cluster, including wide boulevards in South LA, Hollywood, and the Valley, where drivers move fast and crosswalks sit far apart. When a vehicle strikes a person at those speeds, no bumper, frame, or airbag absorbs the force. Your body takes all of it. That's why the cases we handle so often involve traumatic brain injuries, spinal-cord damage, multiple fractures, and internal injuries, and why so many pedestrian crashes turn catastrophic or fatal. These injuries mean long hospital stays, surgeries, months or years of rehab, and future medical needs that far outlast the first insurance offer. A brain injury can change your memory, mood, and ability to work for the rest of your life. A spinal injury can end your independence. Even a "straightforward" leg or hip fracture can take several surgeries and leave you with a permanent limp and chronic pain. We wait until your prognosis is clear, work with your treating doctors and, when needed, life-care planners and job experts, and document every current and future cost. That way we can value your claim for what these injuries will really cost you over a lifetime, not for what an adjuster wants to pay to close the file fast.
What to do after a pedestrian accident in Los Angeles
Get emergency medical care immediately
Call 911 and let paramedics check you at the scene, even if you think you can walk away. Pedestrian injuries like internal bleeding, concussions, and spinal damage often hide behind adrenaline. A gap in treatment is the first thing an insurer uses to claim you weren't really hurt.
Preserve the scene and identify the driver
If you can, photograph the location, the vehicle and its plate, the crosswalk or intersection, and your injuries. Get the names and numbers of witnesses and the responding officer's report number. If the driver fled, note anything you can about the car and its direction. It helps investigators find them.
Say nothing to the insurer, call us first
Do not give a recorded statement, sign a medical release, or accept any offer from the driver's insurance company before you talk to a lawyer. Their goal is to pin the blame on you. The consultation is free, and we'll protect your claim from the first phone call.
"The pedestrian darted out", the insurer's favorite defense, and how we beat it
Almost every pedestrian case we take brings the same move from the insurance company. They claim you "darted out," crossed against the signal, or stepped off the curb where the driver couldn't see you. They do it because it works. If they can shift blame onto you, they pay less. Here's what they don't want you to know. California follows <strong>pure comparative negligence</strong>, which means you can recover money even if you were partly at fault. Your award drops in proportion to your share of fault, but your share of fault does not bar it, even if a jury decides you were 50% or more responsible (<em>Li v. Yellow Cab Co.</em> (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). So the whole fight becomes about shrinking the share of blame put on you, and that's where careful investigation wins cases. We use crosswalk and signal-timing records, traffic-camera and nearby-business footage, the vehicle's speed and event-data-recorder information, and independent witness accounts to show the driver was speeding, distracted, or failed to yield. We handle every talk with the adjuster so you never have to argue your own case, and we build the file as if it will go to trial. That's exactly why insurers take represented pedestrians seriously and pay more.
What your pedestrian accident claim can recover
- ✓Medical expenses. Ambulance and emergency care, surgery, hospital stays, imaging, medication, and rehabilitation, both past and future.
- ✓Lost income. Wages you missed while recovering, plus reduced earning power if your injuries limit the work you can do from here.
- ✓Pain & suffering. Physical pain, emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment of the activities and life you had before the crash.
- ✓Long-term & future care. Ongoing treatment, physical therapy, assistive devices, and long-term care for permanent or catastrophic injuries.
- ✓Disability & disfigurement. Money for permanent impairment, scarring, and the lasting impact on your independence and daily life.
- ✓Punitive damages. Added damages meant to punish the wrongdoer, available only when you prove malice, oppression, or fraud by clear and convincing evidence (Civil Code § 3294). A driver who hit you on foot while drunk may have shown the conscious disregard of safety that qualifies, but these damages are never automatic.
California injury law, the deadlines that matter
In most California pedestrian cases, you have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal-injury lawsuit (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1). The deadlines are much shorter if a public entity may be responsible. That includes a crash with a city, county or state vehicle, or one caused by a dangerous condition of public property, such as a malfunctioning traffic signal or a sightline the agency let become obstructed. In those cases you generally must present a written claim to the public entity within six months of the injury (Government Code § 911.2). If the entity sends a written rejection, you then have only six months from that notice to file suit (Government Code § 945.6). The extra time minors usually get does not apply to these government claims (Code Civ. Proc. § 352(b)). A public entity is liable for a dangerous condition of its property only if specific statutory elements are proven (Government Code § 835). On the merits, a driver must yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing in any marked crosswalk, or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, and a driver approaching a pedestrian in a crosswalk must use all due care and slow down or take other action needed to keep the pedestrian safe (Vehicle Code § 21950(a), (c)). Even outside a crosswalk, a driver must still use due care for the safety of any pedestrian on the roadway (Vehicle Code § 21954(b)). Pedestrians also have a duty to use due care for their own safety (Vehicle Code § 21950(b)). California's pure comparative negligence rule means you can still recover if you were partly at fault, with your award reduced by your percentage of fault (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). Insurers often use these rules against injured pedestrians by running out the clock or inflating your share of the blame, which is why talking to a lawyer early can make or break your case.
Why Angelenos hit on foot choose Moe Abdallah Law
Moe handles your pedestrian case himself
You work directly with Attorney Moe Abdallah, who takes your case personally, fights the insurance company, and keeps you updated by call and text at every step. You'll never get handed off to a stranger.
No fee unless we win
No upfront cost, and no fee unless we win money for you after a driver hits you on foot. Your consultation is free, and Se Habla Español.
We prepare to win
We build every case for trial, with fast evidence preservation, the right experts, and hard negotiation that forces insurers to pay full value.
Frequently Asked Questions
Often, yes. California follows pure comparative negligence, so you can recover even if you were partly at fault. Your award drops by your percentage of blame, but your share of fault does not bar it (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). A driver who was speeding, distracted, or impaired can be liable even when you weren't in a crosswalk, because Vehicle Code § 21954(b) requires drivers to use due care for the safety of any pedestrian on the roadway. You also have a duty to use due care for your own safety (Vehicle Code § 21950(b)), which is why insurers try to pin blame on you. We fight to shrink any fault put on you.
That's the most common defense in pedestrian cases, and it's beatable. Don't argue it yourself or give a recorded statement. We counter it with crosswalk and signal-timing data, traffic-camera and surveillance footage, vehicle speed information, and witness accounts. Even if some fault lands on you, California's pure comparative negligence rule still lets you recover. So the fight is about proving the driver's share, and we take that on for you.
Hit-and-run pedestrian cases are still winnable. Your own auto policy's uninsured motorist coverage may help, so we check your policy. California treats an unidentified hit-and-run driver as uninsured. It pays for bodily injury only if three conditions are met: the car physically hit you, the crash was reported within 24 hours to the city police (or the sheriff or CHP outside city limits), and you file a sworn statement with your insurer within 30 days after that report (Insurance Code § 11580.2(b)). So get a police report on file right away. We chase camera footage, debris and witness leads to find the driver. Call us and we'll walk through every source of recovery open to you.
Nothing upfront. We handle pedestrian cases on contingency, meaning our fee comes out of the money we recover for you. If there's no recovery, you owe us no fee. The consultation is always free.
Against a private driver, you generally have two years from the crash to sue (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1). But if a government vehicle struck you or a dangerous condition of public property played a part, you must first present a written claim to the public entity within six months under Government Code § 911.2. If the entity sends a written rejection, you then have six months from that notice to file suit (Government Code § 945.6). If a child was hit, the usual extra time for minors does not extend these government claim deadlines (Code of Civil Procedure § 352(b)). Because these deadlines are strict and evidence disappears fast, call as soon as you can.
Call 911 and accept a medical check even if you feel okay, because adrenaline hides serious injuries. If you can, photograph the scene, the vehicle, its plate, and your injuries, and get witness contact information and the police report number. Then contact us before you talk to any insurer, so nothing you say can be used to cut your claim.
It depends on how bad and how permanent your injuries are, your medical costs and future care, lost income and earning power, and how clearly the driver was at fault. Because pedestrians take the full force of a crash, these cases often involve serious injuries and real value. But there's no fixed formula. A free review of your case is the fastest way to get a real answer.
Yes. Se Habla Español. If you were hit on foot and feel more at ease in Spanish, our team can walk you through your claim in Spanish, and the consultation is free.
For a minor incident with no real injuries, you might manage on your own. But if you were seriously hurt, or the driver's insurer is blaming you for stepping out, a lawyer usually recovers more even after the fee. Pedestrian injuries tend to be severe and expensive, and insurers pay represented people more because they know the claim is built to hold up. A free call costs nothing and helps you decide.
No. You are not required to give the driver's insurer a recorded statement, and you shouldn't before talking to a lawyer. Adjusters use those recordings to get you to say something they can twist into "you darted out" or shared the blame. Politely decline and call us. We handle those conversations so nothing you say gets used to shrink your claim.
Usually not, not before your treatment is finished and your doctors understand the full picture. Early offers come in low, before anyone knows if you'll need more surgery or face lasting effects from a brain, spine, or serious fracture injury. Once you accept and sign, you can't reopen the claim. Let us review any offer for free before you sign, so you know what your case is actually worth.
Yes, get checked right away. Adrenaline after being hit masks real injuries, and concussions, internal bleeding, and spinal damage can stay hidden for hours. Seeing a doctor protects your health and creates a record connecting your injuries to the crash. A gap between the crash and your first treatment is one of the main things an insurer uses to claim you weren't really hurt.
A claim against the driver who hit you goes to that driver's insurer, not yours. If you also use your own policy, such as uninsured motorist coverage after a hit-and-run, ask your agent how your insurer handles it. Put your health and recovery first. We're glad to walk through your specific situation on a free call.
It depends on how serious your injuries are and whether the driver's insurer disputes fault. When fault is clear and the injuries are modest, a case can settle a few months after your treatment ends. A serious injury case takes longer, often a year or more, because we won't settle before your prognosis is clear and every future cost is documented. We keep the case moving and keep you updated at each step.
Order it online through LAPD's request portal, which runs through LexisNexis in English or Spanish. Wait at least 45 days after the crash, since LAPD has to review and approve it first. If the crash involved an arrest, a death or a juvenile, you must order it by mail. Send the request form with a $19 check or money order payable to the LAPD to P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030. If you were hit on a freeway, the CHP area office that responded has the report. We can order it for you.
File with the Office of the City Clerk. It's the only office that can accept a claim against the City of Los Angeles. Use the online Claim for Damages portal, mail the signed form, or deliver it to City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395. Email and fax filings are not accepted by the Clerk. You have six months from the injury to present the claim (Government Code § 911.2), and six months to sue after a written rejection (§ 945.6). Call us early so we can file it right.
Most pedestrian injury lawsuits here are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Cases over $35,000 are unlimited civil, and the court's local rules send injury cases of that size to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse at 111 North Hill Street, or to the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster. At Stanley Mosk, several courtrooms handle personal injury cases only. Cases of $35,000 or less go to the Spring Street Courthouse. A 2024 pilot moved some motor vehicle cases to Van Nuys, Pomona and West Covina, so we confirm the right courthouse when we file.
Other ways we help
Pedestrian Accidents lawyer by area
We represent pedestrian accidents victims across Los Angeles County:
Los Angeles crash data: Pedestrian accident statistics, Los Angeles
Authoritative resources: California Courts, self-help for injury claims · Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1, 2-year deadline · California DMV · California Office of Traffic Safety, crash data
Sources & local resources
- Request a Traffic Report · Los Angeles Police Department
- Vision Zero Maps: High-Injury Network · LADOT Livable Streets
- Adams Boulevard Safety Project · LADOT Livable Streets
- Claim for Damage · Office of the Los Angeles City Clerk
- 9-1-1 Receiving Hospital Directory, Reference No. 501 · LA County EMS Agency, Department of Health Services
- Local Rules, Chapter 2 (Rules 2.2 and 2.3, filing locations) · Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
- Cal. Veh. Code § 21950 · California Legislative Information
- Claims · Los Angeles City Attorney
Talk to Moe Abdallah directly
When you call Moe Abdallah Law, you work directly with your attorney and get straight answers, not a call center. Moe takes on the insurance companies and fights for the maximum, and he keeps you updated at every step. The consultation is free and you pay nothing unless he wins.
Real recoveries for real Angelenos
Real recoveries from an attorney who takes your case personally and fights for the maximum.
Rear-ended by a driver who fled, and other firms turned her down. Moe opened an uninsured-motorist claim, proved she could not have been at fault, and secured the full policy limit.
Broke his sternum and had no insurance of his own, and his prior attorney ignored him. Moe took his calls day and night and recovered a settlement that covered his hospital bills and future treatment.
Cut off on the freeway and left with back and neck pain over four months of treatment. Moe secured the full policy limit for his pain and suffering, and his totaled car was reimbursed.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and depends on its own facts.
Talk to a lawyer today, free
Tell us what happened. We respond fast, usually within the hour, and there's no fee unless we win. Available 24/7 · Se Habla Español.
Call (323) 716-1992