Santa Monica Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were hurt in a crash on the Westside, a Santa Monica personal injury lawyer at Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. can take on the insurers and fight for the full value of your injuries. Santa Monica is where the I-10 begins, and in 2023 the state ranked it 3rd of 103 similar-size cities for pedestrian victims, so crashes here often cause serious injuries and hard fights over fault. Moe handles motor-vehicle injury cases only: car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, bicycle, rideshare, bus, hit-and-run and uninsured driver crashes, plus wrongful death and brain injury that come from them. He takes calls himself and keeps you updated by call and text. Call (323) 716-1992 any hour for a free review. You pay nothing unless we win.

How we help injured people in Santa Monica

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

What the crash numbers say about Santa Monica

Santa Monica is small, dense and busy, and the state's 2023 data shows it. The California Office of Traffic Safety counted 417 fatal and injury victims here, ranking the city 39th of 103 comparable cities. The worst ranks (rank 1 is worst) are for people outside a car. Pedestrian victims numbered 62, third worst of 103. Pedestrians aged 65 and older, 11 victims, also ranked third. Bicyclist victims numbered 48, eighth worst, and motorcycle victims numbered 33, sixth worst. The city's own Wilshire Safety Study, built on more than 11 years of collision data, found that half of all fatal and severe crashes happen on only ten percent of its streets. The takeaway is plain. If you got hurt walking, biking or riding a motorcycle in Santa Monica, it was no freak accident. It is the kind of crash this city sees most. Insurers know that, and they still try to blame the person with no steel around them. We answer with the scene, the video and the law.

The streets, the 10 and the coast where crashes start

The I-10, the Santa Monica Freeway, begins here near the ocean. Drivers leaving it go straight from freeway speed onto downtown city streets. Wilshire, Lincoln, Ocean Park, Olympic, Santa Monica Boulevard, Pico, Main Street and Colorado Avenue cross neighborhoods like Downtown, Ocean Park, Sunset Park, Pico, Midtown and North of Montana. The city's Vision Zero program names two Priority Intersections: Ocean Park Boulevard at Lincoln Boulevard, and Olympic Boulevard at 14th Street. It calls Wilshire Boulevard a top priority, and Phase 1 of its safety work began May 8, 2023, with repaving between Ocean Avenue and Centinela Avenue. Add visitors walking downtown and drivers hunting for parking, and the common causes are drivers carrying freeway speed onto city streets, unsafe turns across bike lanes, distracted driving in dense traffic and failure to yield in crosswalks. Each leaves evidence behind, and much of it disappears within days.

Police reports, claims and who to notify in Santa Monica

Santa Monica has its own police department, which writes reports for crashes on city streets. The Santa Monica Police Department is at 333 Olympic Dr, and its non-emergency line is (310) 458-8491. To get your report, use the Public Records Request Center and choose Police, call the Records Unit at (310) 458-8431, or go in person to the Public Safety Facility. The city must respond within 10 days saying whether the records exist and can be provided, and a fee may apply. Freeway crashes may be handled by a different agency, so ask the officer who wrote the report. If your crash involved a city vehicle, a Big Blue Bus or a dangerous street, a government claim may come first. Claims against the City of Santa Monica go to the City Clerk at 1685 Main Street, on the city's claim form. For injury or personal property damage, the form says you must file within six months (Government Code 911.2). Risk Management handles liability claims at (310) 458-8374. The form also has a section for Big Blue Bus claims. If anyone was injured or damage tops $1,000, an SR-1 report to the DMV is due within 10 days.

Where you are treated and where your case is heard

Two hospitals sit inside the city. Providence Saint John's Health Center at 2121 Santa Monica Boulevard has an emergency department and is listed as a STEMI Receiving Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center. UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center at 1250 16th Street runs the Nethercutt Emergency Center. Paramedics choose the hospital based on your condition, and serious cases may go to a trauma center elsewhere. Wherever you go, tell the staff every symptom and say the crash caused it. Those first records shape the claim, and a gap in treatment is the first thing an adjuster uses to argue you were not hurt. The Santa Monica Courthouse is at 1725 Main Street, part of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. We confirm the right filing court with the county before filing, because courts assign cases by type and amount. Most claims settle before trial, but we prepare each one as if a jury will see it. Insurers notice that preparation, and they treat a represented client differently. Moe's office is at 527 W 7th St, Suite 924, in downtown Los Angeles, and we meet by phone or video when you are still healing.

Crashes on foot, bike and motorcycle on the Westside

The state's rankings put Santa Monica near the top for pedestrian, bicyclist and motorcycle victims, so these crashes deserve their own attention here. A pedestrian has the right of way in a marked crosswalk and in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection (Vehicle Code 21950). Insurers still say the walker darted out or crossed against a signal. Moe, a pedestrian accident lawyer on the Westside, starts with signal timing, camera footage and the driver's phone. For riders, California requires a driver to give at least three feet when passing a bike (Vehicle Code 21760), and a cyclist has the same rights as a driver. See our Santa Monica bicycle accident page for dooring, close passes and right hooks. Motorcycle riders face left-turn crashes and drivers who say they never saw the bike. See our motorcycle accident lawyer pages for lane-splitting rules. California follows pure comparative negligence, so partial blame reduces your award instead of ending it (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). When any of these crashes causes a head injury, our Santa Monica brain injury lawyer page explains symptoms, proof and deadlines.

Rideshare, bus, hit-and-run and drunk-driving crashes

After an Uber or Lyft crash in Santa Monica, the first question is which policy applies, and that depends on the app status. California requires $1 million in liability coverage for a rideshare driver during a trip, and since January 1, 2026 the company must also carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident while a passenger is in the car. Get the trip record before it disappears. If you rode a Big Blue Bus or the Metro E Line, the operator must use the highest level of care for passengers under California law (Civil Code 2100), and claims against the city's bus system follow the six-month government claim. The E Line's western end is the Downtown Santa Monica station at 401 Colorado Avenue. If the driver fled, report it within 24 hours, then call us. Your own uninsured motorist coverage may pay if the driver is never found. When a driver was drunk, a civil case is separate from the criminal case, and punitive damages may be possible if the facts show a conscious disregard for safety (Civil Code 3294). Moe has recovered $100,000 for a woman hit by a driver who fled, and past results do not predict a similar outcome. For an Uber or Lyft crash, our Santa Monica Uber accident lawyer page answers whether you can sue Uber and who pays your doctors while the claim is open.

How Moe handles a Santa Monica case, and what it costs

A free review comes first. You tell Moe what happened, and he tells you what he sees, in plain words. He moves quickly on video, vehicle data and witnesses, because those fade fast on a street as busy as Wilshire or Lincoln. He gathers your medical records, deals with the adjuster so you do not give a recorded statement, and values your claim by medical bills, future care, lost pay and pain. We take cases on contingency, so you pay no fee unless we win. Moe has recovered $105,000 for an uninsured client with a broken sternum, $75,000 after an insurer first offered $900, and $30,000 policy limits on several cases. Past results do not predict a similar outcome. Moe personally handles your case and keeps you updated by call and text. We hold a 5.0 star rating on Google. We are available 24/7, and se habla espanol. If you are not sure you have a case, call. The call costs nothing, and it can protect evidence before it is gone.

Frequently Asked Questions