Los Angeles Car Accident Lawyer

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Short answer: if another driver caused a crash that injured you in Los Angeles, you can recover your medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering from that driver’s insurer, from your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage if the driver had too little insurance or fled, or from a rideshare company’s policy if an Uber or Lyft driver was involved. The insurance company’s first offer is rarely the right number, evidence in Los Angeles disappears within days, and you generally have two years to file a lawsuit (six months to file a claim if a government vehicle or a dangerous road is involved). Abdi & Associates helps individuals with car accident claims in Los Angeles and throughout California.

Free consultation, English and Spanish: (888) 772-2529. No fee unless you recover.

Car accidents in Los Angeles

Los Angeles County records more traffic collisions than any other county in California, and a large share of them are hit-and-runs. The 405, the 101, the 10, and the 110 produce chain-reaction freeway crashes; surface streets from Wilshire to Sepulveda to Whittier Boulevard produce intersection, left-turn, and pedestrian collisions; and the county’s mix of rideshare vehicles, delivery vans, commercial trucks, and uninsured drivers means the insurance questions are often harder than the fault questions. Crashes on city streets are handled by LAPD traffic divisions or the local police department; crashes on freeways are handled by the California Highway Patrol. Which agency responded determines where the report lives and how quickly it can be obtained.

How fault works in California

California is an at-fault state. The driver whose negligence caused the crash, and that driver’s insurer, are responsible for the harm. Negligence in a car accident case usually means a violation of the Vehicle Code or of the basic duty of care: speeding, running a red light or stop sign, an unsafe lane change, following too closely, failing to yield on a left turn, driving distracted, or driving impaired. Fault is proven with the police report, physical evidence, witness statements, video, and sometimes accident reconstruction.

California follows pure comparative negligence. If you were partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault but not eliminated, even if your share is large. Insurers use this rule aggressively: a claim that is worth $100,000 becomes $70,000 if the adjuster can pin 30 percent of the blame on you. Pushing back on inflated fault allocations is one of the main things an attorney does in a car accident claim.

Two California rules catch people by surprise. Under Civil Code section 3333.4 (Proposition 213), a driver who was uninsured at the time of the crash, or who was convicted of DUI for the crash, generally cannot recover pain and suffering damages even if the other driver was entirely at fault, although medical bills and lost wages remain recoverable. And a driver who caused a crash while intoxicated can be liable for punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages.

Insurance: the part of the case that decides what you actually collect

The other driver’s liability coverage

Since January 1, 2025, the minimum liability coverage a California driver must carry is $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $15,000 for property damage. Many Los Angeles drivers carry only the minimum, and many carry nothing. When your injuries exceed the at-fault driver’s limits, the next question is your own coverage.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM)

California insurers must offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and you have it unless you rejected it in writing (Insurance Code section 11580.2). UM coverage pays when the at-fault driver had no insurance or fled the scene. UIM coverage pays the difference between the at-fault driver’s limits and your own UIM limits when the other driver’s policy is too small. A hit-and-run UM claim in California generally requires physical contact with the other vehicle, a police report within 24 hours, and notice to your insurer within 30 days. UM and UIM claims are made against your own insurer, are subject to a two-year deadline, and are resolved by arbitration rather than a jury if they cannot be settled. Your own insurer is not on your side in a UM claim; it defends the claim the same way the other driver’s insurer would.

Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare crashes

Rideshare coverage in California depends on what the driver was doing when the crash happened (Public Utilities Code section 5433). When the driver has accepted a ride or has a passenger on board, the company’s policy provides $1,000,000 in liability coverage and $1,000,000 in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. When the driver is logged into the app waiting for a request, lower company-provided limits apply. When the app is off, only the driver’s personal policy applies, and many personal policies exclude commercial driving. Passengers, occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists hit by a rideshare vehicle all have claims; identifying the driver’s status at the moment of the crash is the first step, and it requires records from the rideshare company.

Medical bills, MedPay, and liens

Your health insurance or MedPay coverage pays your treatment while the claim is pending, and the health plan, Medi-Cal, or Medicare will usually assert a lien on your settlement for what it paid. Under California law, the medical expenses you can recover are the amounts actually paid or owed, not the higher amounts on the original bills. Negotiating those liens down at the end of the case is often worth as much as the negotiation with the insurer.

Government vehicles and dangerous roads

If the other vehicle was a city, county, or state vehicle, a Metro bus, a police car, or a public school district vehicle, or if the crash was caused by a dangerous condition of public property such as a malfunctioning signal, a missing guardrail, or an obscured stop sign, you must present a written government claim within six months of the crash (Government Code section 911.2) before you can sue, and the six-month deadline is enforced strictly. Claims against public entities also involve immunities and design defenses that ordinary car accident claims do not. Our bus accident page covers Metro and other public transit claims.

What an insurance company will do after your crash

The at-fault driver’s adjuster will typically call within days, ask for a recorded statement, request a blanket medical authorization, and, if injuries look minor, offer a quick settlement before you know what your injuries are. Each of those is designed to limit what the insurer pays. You are not required to give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement, you should not sign an open-ended medical release, and you should not accept any settlement before your doctors know whether you will fully recover. Once you sign a release, the claim is over even if your injury turns out to be worse than you thought. California’s Fair Claims Settlement Practices regulations require insurers to investigate promptly and to explain a denial in writing, and an insurer that mishandles a claim can face additional liability, but the practical protection is having someone who does this every day handle the communication.

Evidence that decides Los Angeles car accident cases

The police report. LAPD and other city departments and the CHP each have their own retrieval process; the report captures the officer’s fault opinion, citations, statements, and witnesses.
Video. Dashcams, LADOT and Caltrans traffic cameras, transit bus cameras, and business and residential security cameras. Most private systems overwrite footage within days, so preservation letters have to go out immediately.
Vehicle data. Modern vehicles record speed, braking, and steering in an event data recorder. The data can be lost when the vehicle is repaired or salvaged.
Phone records when distracted driving is suspected.
Scene evidence. Photographs of vehicle positions, damage, skid marks, debris, signals, and sight lines; measurements; and the names and numbers of every witness.
Medical documentation from the first visit forward. Gaps in treatment are the insurer’s favorite argument that you were not really hurt.

What compensation can include

Economic damages: emergency and hospital bills, follow-up care, physical therapy, surgery, medication and medical devices, future medical care, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity, mileage and out-of-pocket costs, and vehicle repair or replacement (property damage claims have a three-year deadline).

Non-economic damages: physical pain, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, and loss of consortium for a spouse. California does not cap non-economic damages in an ordinary car accident case. There is no formula that fixes the value of a claim; the severity and permanence of the injury, the clarity of fault, the credibility of the medical evidence, and the available insurance coverage drive the number. Anyone who quotes you a value before reviewing your records is guessing. Our guide on how much a car accident settlement is worth in California explains the factors in detail.

Serious crashes produce serious injuries: traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, fractures, amputations, and internal injuries. When a crash is fatal, the family may have a wrongful death claim.

California deadlines for car accident claims

Two years from the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1); two years from the death for a wrongful death claim.
Three years for property damage (Code of Civil Procedure section 338).
Six months to present a government claim if a public entity or a dangerous public road is involved (Government Code section 911.2).
Two years to bring an uninsured or underinsured motorist claim against your own insurer, with additional notice requirements for hit-and-run claims.
Ten days to file an SR-1 report with the DMV if anyone was injured or killed or property damage exceeded $1,000 (Vehicle Code section 16000), regardless of fault.
Your own policy’s notice requirements, which usually require prompt reporting of the crash.

Deadlines have exceptions for minors and other circumstances, and they can be shorter than you expect. Confirm yours with an attorney rather than assuming.

What to do after a car accident in Los Angeles

Get to safety and call 911. Move out of traffic if you can, turn on hazard lights, and ask for police and paramedics. A police response creates the report that documents the crash.
Exchange information, but do not discuss fault. Get the other driver’s name, license, insurance, and plate, and the names and numbers of witnesses. Do not apologize or speculate about what happened.
Photograph everything before vehicles are moved if it is safe: positions, damage, the road, signals, and your injuries.
Get medical care the same day, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline masks injuries, and the gap between the crash and the first medical visit is the first thing the insurer will use against you.
Report the crash to your own insurer promptly, and file the SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days if the crash involved injury or more than $1,000 in damage.
Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer, sign a medical release, or accept a quick settlement before talking to an attorney.
Stay off social media about the crash and your injuries.
Keep every document: bills, estimates, pay stubs, correspondence with insurers, and a journal of your symptoms and missed activities.
Follow your treatment plan until your doctors say you have reached maximum improvement; settling before then means settling without knowing what the injury will cost.

Our step-by-step guide on what to do after a car accident in California goes into more detail.

If the crash happened while you were working

If you were driving for work when the crash happened, whether as a delivery driver, a rideshare driver, a sales representative, or an employee running an errand for your employer, you likely have a workers’ compensation claim against your employer’s insurer in addition to your claim against the at-fault driver. The two claims interact, and coordinating them matters. Abdi & Associates handles workers’ compensation claims in-house; see our work injury lawyer page for how the two claims fit together.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a lawyer for a minor accident? If your injuries resolved in a few weeks and the other driver’s insurer accepted fault, you may be able to settle the property damage and a small injury claim yourself. If you had any treatment beyond an initial visit, if fault is disputed, or if the other driver was uninsured or a rideshare driver, get a consultation before you talk to the adjuster. Consultations are free, and you will know where you stand.

The other driver has no insurance. Can I still recover? Yes, through your own uninsured motorist coverage if you have it. If you do not, the at-fault driver is personally liable, but collecting from an uninsured individual is often impractical. Check your policy declarations page for UM/UIM limits; if you have questions about what it says, ask us.

I was hit by a hit-and-run driver. Report it to the police within 24 hours and to your insurer within 30 days. If there was physical contact between the vehicles, your UM coverage applies. Traffic and business cameras sometimes identify the driver, but only if the footage is preserved quickly.

I was a passenger in an Uber or Lyft. You are covered by the company’s $1,000,000 policy while the ride was in progress, and by its UM/UIM coverage if another driver caused the crash and was uninsured or underinsured. You may also have a claim against the other driver.

Should I give the insurance company a recorded statement? Not to the other driver’s insurer, and not to your own without preparation. Recorded statements are used to lock in details that later limit your claim.

The adjuster says I was partly at fault. That reduces, but does not eliminate, your recovery under California’s comparative negligence rule. The percentage is negotiable and often inflated; evidence, not the adjuster’s opinion, decides it.

How long will my case take? A clear-liability claim with a full recovery can settle within a few months after treatment ends. Claims with serious injuries, disputed fault, or policy-limits issues can take a year or more, and a lawsuit adds time. Settling early usually means settling for less than the claim is worth.

How much does a car accident lawyer cost? Nothing up front. Car accident claims are handled on a contingency fee, so the fee is a percentage of the recovery and you owe nothing if there is no recovery. Case costs are explained in writing before you sign anything.

Call now: (888) 772-2529. Hablamos español. You can also fill out the contact form and we will call you. We work remotely, so your consultation and your case can be handled by phone, video, and secure electronic signature from anywhere in California.

Reviewed by Shawn Abdi, Esq., Abdi & Associates, Inc. Last reviewed: September 4, 2026.
Attorney advertising. This page is general information, not legal advice about your specific situation. Legal deadlines have exceptions, confirm yours with an attorney. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.