By Ron McMinn, Esq. | Last updated November 10, 2026.
Read this page in Español.
A Los Angeles car accident lawyer helps you identify the at-fault driver, the right insurer, and the much shorter clock that starts when a city, county, Caltrans, or transit vehicle may be involved. Win Attorneys represents injured people throughout California from our office at 17291 Irvine Blvd., Suite 210, Tustin, CA 92780. We have no Los Angeles office. We speak Spanish and Vietnamese. If you were hurt in a crash in Los Angeles County, call us at (657) 235-8097.
This page is about roadway crashes in Los Angeles County: freeway collisions, surface-street wrecks, rideshares, and claims that may involve the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, Caltrans, or another public entity. It does not replace our Los Angeles personal injury page, which covers broader Los Angeles injury and transit questions, and we are not editing that page here. For statewide car-crash rules, see our California car accident lawyer page. For a Metro bus injury, use our guide on how to file a claim after an LA Metro bus accident.
We help from Tustin, not from a Los Angeles office
Our only office is in Tustin. We do not have a downtown Los Angeles suite, a Westside office, or a San Fernando Valley branch. We meet clients by phone, by video, and by appointment. Los Angeles County cases are still California cases. The difference is practical: the crash may have happened on a City of Los Angeles street, a county road, a Caltrans freeway, or a route that also involves Metro, and each of those paths has its own claim recipient.
If you need the broader Los Angeles injury page, use the Los Angeles personal injury page. If your crash was in San Diego County, use our San Diego car accident lawyer page. Orange County readers can start with the Tustin car accident lawyer page or city pages such as Irvine, Santa Ana, and Anaheim.
Los Angeles County roads and what they change about a claim
A crash on a numbered freeway is often a different file from a crash at a city intersection. Caltrans generally has responsibility for interstate and state-route freeways that cross the county, including Interstate 5, Interstate 10, Interstate 105, Interstate 110, Interstate 210, Interstate 405, Interstate 605, Interstate 710, U.S. Route 101, and State Route 91. A dangerous-condition or work-zone theory about those roads usually belongs in a Caltrans claim, not in a claim to the Los Angeles City Clerk, even when the crash happened inside city limits.
City streets, signals, left-turn pockets, and many local roads can belong to the City of Los Angeles or to another city in the county, such as Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Santa Monica, Inglewood, or Pomona. Unincorporated communities are not their own city halls. A crash there may involve the County of Los Angeles, Caltrans, or a private driver. See our guides on how to file a claim against the City of Los Angeles and how to file a claim against the County of Los Angeles, and how to file a claim against Caltrans.
Neighborhood names do not create a separate defendant. Hollywood, Downtown, Koreatown, Boyle Heights, the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, and the South Bay describe where people drive, not which entity owns every foot of pavement. Write down the exact street, ramp, intersection, or mile marker.
Who may be responsible
Civil Code section 1714 sets out the basic duty to use ordinary care. A driver can be responsible for following too closely on a congested freeway, turning left across traffic on a wide boulevard, speeding, running a signal, changing lanes without regard for others, or driving impaired. A citation helps but is not required, and the lack of a ticket does not decide the civil claim.
More than one defendant can share fault. That can include another driver, an employer, a vehicle owner, a rideshare company under the insurance that applies when the app is on, a contractor in a work zone, or a public entity whose employee was driving or whose property was dangerous. If a Metro bus, a City DASH bus, or another public vehicle was involved, the claim path changes. Our Metro how-to-file guide explains the Metro fork. A DASH or Commuter Express claim generally goes to the City of Los Angeles, not to Metro.
California uses pure comparative fault. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility rather than eliminated because you were partly at fault.
The six-month government claim, when it applies
Government Code section 911.2 generally requires a written claim for injury or death against a public entity within six months after the claim accrues. Government Code section 945.4 generally requires that claim to be presented and acted on, or deemed rejected, before you can sue for money damages. Calling a comment line, opening an insurance file, or speaking with an investigator is not the same as presenting the claim.
Government Code section 910 lists the contents: your name and address, where notices should be sent, the date, place, and circumstances, a general description of the injury or loss then known, the public employee involved if known, and the amount claimed or whether the matter would be a limited civil case. Government Code section 815.2 and Government Code section 835 are the statutes that most often support employee-driving claims and dangerous-road claims.
Government Code section 912.4 generally gives the entity 45 days to act. Silence is a deemed rejection. After a written rejection, Government Code section 945.6 generally gives six months from the date that notice was delivered or mailed to file a lawsuit. If no written notice is given, a two-year period from accrual can apply instead. Government Code section 911.4 allows a late-claim application within a reasonable time, not later than one year after accrual, and approval is not automatic. Review our note on the AB 2529 claim declaration before signing a claim on or after January 1, 2027.
The City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, Caltrans, and LA Metro are different recipients. A Metro bus claim generally goes to Metro Legal Services, not to the City Clerk. A DASH or Commuter Express claim generally goes to the City of Los Angeles. A freeway dangerous-condition claim generally goes to Caltrans. Sending the right facts to the wrong window can waste the six months you do not have.
Insurance, uninsured coverage, and uninsured drivers
The at-fault driver’s liability policy is the usual first source of payment. The California DMV currently states, citing Insurance Code section 11580.1b, that the minimum private-passenger liability limits are $30,000 for injury or death to one person, $60,000 for injury or death to more than one person, and $15,000 for property damage. Those are floors, not a valuation of your harm, and they are often too low for a hospital stay, surgery, or extended time off work.
Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can fill that gap when the other driver has no insurance, not enough insurance, or flees. Insurance Code section 11580.2 governs many of those claims and includes extra steps after some hit-and-run crashes. Do not assume the liability adjuster’s file protects your own policy deadlines.
If you were driving without the insurance California requires, you may still recover economic damages such as medical bills and lost income, but Civil Code section 3333.4 generally limits an uninsured owner or operator’s recovery of non-economic damages, with statutory exceptions.
What to do after a Los Angeles car accident
Get medical care. Then photograph the vehicles, the roadway, signals, and your injuries if you can do so safely. Collect names, numbers, plate information, and the report number. The Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff, another city’s police department, or the California Highway Patrol may write the report, depending on where the crash occurred. Vehicle Code section 16000 generally requires each driver to file an SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days when there is more than $1,000 in property damage to any one person, or any injury or death.
You generally are not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. Ask, in writing and early, that nearby video and any vehicle or city-camera footage be preserved. Footage is overwritten.
Hospitals that often treat crash injuries in the county include large trauma and emergency centers such as Los Angeles General Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Naming them does not create an affiliation, and it is not a recommendation of any particular hospital.
Courts and related pages
A later lawsuit, if one is necessary, is often filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court. The courthouse can depend on the type of case and the court’s venue rules. Treat that as a later step. The earlier step, when a public entity may be involved, is the six-month written claim.
Use the Los Angeles personal injury page for broader Los Angeles injury and transit questions. Use the California car accident lawyer page for statewide rules, the Tustin car accident lawyer page for Orange County crashes near our office, and the San Diego car accident lawyer page for San Diego County road crashes. Filing guides that often pair with this page include the City of Los Angeles claim guide, the County of Los Angeles claim guide, the Caltrans claim guide, and the LA Metro bus claim guide.
Talk to us
If you were hurt in a Los Angeles County crash, Win Attorneys handles car accident and government claim matters statewide from our Tustin office. We speak Spanish and Vietnamese.
Call us at (657) 235-8097, reach us through our contact page, or start online with our intake form. Office: 17291 Irvine Blvd., Suite 210, Tustin, CA 92780.
This page is general information and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have a Los Angeles office?
No. Our only office is at 17291 Irvine Blvd., Suite 210, Tustin, CA 92780. We represent injured people in Los Angeles County from Tustin by phone, by video, and by appointment. We have no Los Angeles office.
How long do I have to file a Los Angeles car accident claim?
Most injury lawsuits against private parties must be filed within two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, Caltrans, Metro, or another public entity may be responsible, a written government claim is generally due within six months under Government Code section 911.2.
What if my crash happened on Interstate 10, Interstate 405, or U.S. Route 101?
Numbered interstate and state-route freeways are generally Caltrans roads. A dangerous-condition or work-zone claim about those freeways usually goes to Caltrans, not to the Los Angeles City Clerk, even if the crash occurred inside city limits.
What if a City of Los Angeles or County vehicle hit me?
Then a written government claim is generally required within six months. Use the City of Los Angeles or County of Los Angeles claim guide, depending on which entity was involved.
What if a Metro bus was involved instead of a private car?
A Metro bus claim generally goes to Metro Legal Services and still follows the six-month government-claim rule. See our guide on how to file a claim after an LA Metro bus accident. A DASH bus is a City of Los Angeles claim, not a Metro claim.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault?
Yes. California uses pure comparative fault, so your recovery is reduced by your share of responsibility rather than barred.
What if the other driver was uninsured or underinsured?
Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may apply under Insurance Code section 11580.2. Those claims have their own notice and timing rules.
Do I have to report a Los Angeles crash to the DMV?
Yes, if anyone was injured or killed, or if property damage to any one person exceeded $1,000. Vehicle Code section 16000 generally requires each driver to file an SR-1 within 10 days.
Should I give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer?
You generally are not required to. A recorded statement can be used to argue shared fault while you are still unsure of your injuries.
What if I was a passenger?
A passenger can usually claim against the at-fault driver and, when the facts support it, against the driver of the vehicle in which the passenger rode. Household uninsured and underinsured coverage may also apply.
Does this page replace your Los Angeles personal injury page?
No. The Los Angeles personal injury page remains in place for broader injury and transit questions. This page is the dedicated car-crash page. We are not editing the existing Los Angeles location page in this draft.
Do you speak Spanish or Vietnamese?
Yes. We speak Spanish and Vietnamese, and we represent clients across California from our Tustin office.
What if my crash was in Long Beach, Pasadena, or another city in the county?
The same California fault and insurance rules apply, but the government-claim recipient can change if a city vehicle or a city street condition is involved. Identify the city and the exact location.
How much does it cost to talk with you about a Los Angeles crash?
Call us at (657) 235-8097 or start with our intake form. We will explain fees before you hire us. This page does not quote a fee or promise a result.