Personal Injury Lawyer in Burbank, CA

Hurt in a Burbank crash? You need a personal injury lawyer who knows how this city moves. Traffic stacks up on Interstate 5 and the SR 134 Ventura Freeway. City data has tied the most intersection crashes to corners on Victory Place, Burbank Boulevard, Olive Avenue, and Buena Vista Street, and the Burbank Police Department writes the reports on city streets. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. takes motor-vehicle injury cases only, so every hour goes to crash claims like yours. Attorney Moe Abdallah picks up the calls himself and updates you by call and text. He moves on evidence fast, before cameras overwrite and witnesses forget. Your first consultation is free, you pay no fee unless we win, and you can reach us 24/7 at (323) 716-1992. Se habla Español. Below you will find the roads, agencies, hospital, and deadlines you face after a Burbank crash.

How we help injured people in Burbank

We handle every motor-vehicle injury case type for Burbank residents, dealing with the insurers directly while you focus on recovery.

Where Burbank crashes happen

Burbank sits in the southeastern San Fernando Valley, about seven miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Most crash claims here start on the same few roads. Interstate 5 runs through the city from northwest to southeast, and the SR 134 Ventura Freeway crosses it. City data reported by myBurbank counted 50 crashes at Victory Place and Burbank Boulevard between 2015 and 2020, the most of any Burbank intersection. Olive Avenue and Buena Vista Street had 45, and Buena Vista Street and Victory Boulevard had 41. The count is old, so read it as a pattern, not a current ranking. The City told myBurbank that most crashes at these corners involve a driver turning on a yellow while a through driver enters late in the yellow, sometimes running the red. Each corner carries 20,000 to 30,000 cars a day, and Burbank and Victory is the city's busiest intersection. The City also reported more minor rear-end bumps from distracted drivers waiting at red lights. Glenoaks Boulevard, Magnolia Boulevard, and San Fernando Road round out the main surface routes. A signal crash turns on who had the right of way, and the proof fades fast. Call early.

Pedestrians and seniors on foot

The California Office of Traffic Safety ranks cities in the same population group by crash victims, and rank 1 is the worst record. In 2022, Burbank ranked 4th of 61 cities for pedestrian victims and 2nd for pedestrian victims aged 65 and older. In 2023 it ranked 11th of 62 for pedestrians and 6th for older pedestrians. If you walk with a parent or grandparent, those numbers matter to you. The city has acted on East Olive Avenue. In late March 2025 it restriped the stretch between Glenoaks Boulevard and N. Sunset Canyon Dr. to cut lanes and slow traffic, saying multi-year data showed more collisions on Olive than on comparable hillside streets such as Magnolia Boulevard. Under Vehicle Code section 21950, drivers must yield to people in a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, and must use due care and slow down as needed. Insurers still blame the walker for crossing mid-block or wearing dark clothes. California follows pure comparative negligence, so you can recover even if some blame lands on you. Your award drops by your share. Older victims often heal slowly, so we build your full medical picture early.

Getting your Burbank police report

The Burbank Police Department, at 200 N. Third St., writes the collision report for most crashes on city streets. Its traffic page says officers write a report when someone is hurt or killed, when a driver asks for one, when a city or government vehicle is involved, or when there is a chargeable violation such as DUI or hit-and-run. You can buy the report online through LexisNexis at least four days after the crash, with a convenience fee, or in person at the Records Bureau counter. Call the Records Bureau at (818) 238-3140 or the Traffic Bureau at (818) 238-3100. Two city pages list different in-person fees, so ask before you go. The California Highway Patrol normally handles crashes on Interstate 5 and the SR 134, so your report may come from CHP. If you were driving, California also requires an SR-1 report to the DMV within 10 days when anyone was hurt or damage to any one person topped $1,000. Reports often get fault, lane position, or witness names wrong. We read yours line by line and fight any mistake before the insurer treats it as fact.

Treatment close to home at Providence Saint Joseph

Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, at 501 S. Buena Vista St., runs a 24/7 emergency department at (818) 843-5111. Its emergency page lists stroke center, STEMI receiving center, and pediatric emergency designations. It does not list a trauma center level. After a serious freeway crash, paramedics may take you to a trauma center elsewhere in the county, and that call is theirs, not yours. Get seen fast and keep every appointment. Adrenaline hides neck, back, and head injuries for days. A gap between the crash and your first visit, or between visits, is the first thing an adjuster cites to argue you were not hurt badly. Keep every discharge sheet, bill, and referral. Tell each provider exactly how the crash happened and where it hurts. If you have no health insurance, say so on your first call. We recovered money for an uninsured client with a broken sternum, covering hospital bills and future treatment. Past results are no promise of a similar outcome.

Claims against the city and BurbankBus

Some Burbank crashes involve a public entity. A city vehicle may hit you, or a bad road may share the blame, like a broken signal or a hidden crosswalk. The City of Burbank runs BurbankBus, and LA Metro also serves the area. Government claims follow different rules. Under Government Code section 911.2, you generally must file a written claim within six months of the crash, far shorter than the usual window. The City of Burbank's claim page lists no deadline, so do not wait for the city to give you one. Send claims to the Burbank City Clerk's Office on the city's Claim for Damages form. You can email cityclerks@burbankca.gov or mail it to P.O. Box 6459, Burbank, CA 91510. The clerk logs the claim and passes it to the Liability Office for a decision. A late or incomplete claim can kill a strong case before it starts. For most other crashes, California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives you two years from the date of the crash to file suit. We calendar both dates the day you call.

Car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, and rideshare crashes in Burbank

Car crashes fill most of our Burbank calls. Rear-end hits often cause neck and back injuries that surface days later. Truck crashes on the Golden State Freeway bring commercial insurance and company records, so we move fast to save the engine data, driver logs, and dashcam video before anyone overwrites them. Motorcycle riders face bias at the claims desk, where insurers assume speed or lane splitting. No statute bans lane splitting. Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines it and lets the CHP publish safety guidelines. A missing helmet does not bar recovery, though an insurer may argue it made a head injury worse. OTS ranked Burbank 37th for motorcycle victims in 2022 and 43rd in 2023, and 27th and 39th for bicyclist victims. Riders are not the main pattern here, but a rider hurt on Magnolia Boulevard still fights the same blame game, and cyclists hear the same comparative fault pitch. For Uber and Lyft crashes, coverage depends on the app. Once a driver accepts a ride or has a passenger, the company's $1,000,000 liability policy applies, along with uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. With the app on and no ride accepted, coverage drops far lower. The driver's stage decides your claim, so we pull the trip record early.

Hit-and-run, drunk driving, and wrongful death

OTS ranked Burbank 26th of 61 cities for hit-and-run in 2022 and 36th of 62 in 2023. Leaving the scene of an injury crash can be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor under Vehicle Code section 20001, but a criminal charge does not pay your bills. Your own uninsured motorist coverage can. We won a $100,000 policy-limit uninsured motorist recovery for a woman rear-ended by a driver who fled with no police report, after other firms turned her down. For an unknown driver, your policy requires a report to Burbank police within 24 hours and a sworn statement to your insurer within 30 days. When a drunk driver causes the crash, Vehicle Code section 23152 makes the driving a crime, and Civil Code section 3294 allows punitive damages when clear and convincing evidence shows malice, such as despicable conduct in willful and conscious disregard of others' safety. When a crash takes a life, Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 decides who may bring the wrongful death claim, including the spouse, domestic partner, and children, and in some cases dependent parents or others. Your family generally has two years from the date of death. If a public entity is involved, the six-month claim rule still applies. We handle these cases with care, and we talk with your family when you are ready.

How Moe handles a Burbank injury case

When you call, you reach the lawyer who will work your case. Moe Abdallah, a Southwestern Law School graduate and member of the California Bar, takes calls himself and updates you by call and text. First we lock down evidence: the police report, scene photos, nearby camera footage, witness names, and vehicle data. Next we gather your medical records, bills, and proof of lost work. We deal with the adjuster, so you never give a recorded statement. An insurer may offer a quick check that barely covers the ER bill. In one case, an at-fault insurer offered $900, and we recovered $75,000 total by tendering the at-fault limit and pursuing the underinsured motorist claim. Past results are no promise of a similar outcome. Where we file depends on your claim. The Burbank Courthouse at 300 E. Olive Ave. handles some civil matters, so we pick the right court for you. We work on contingency, so you pay no fee unless we win. Call (323) 716-1992 any hour for a free case review.

Frequently Asked Questions