Protecting Your Rights After A Motor Vehicle Accident

Representing Victims Of All Types Of Accidents

• Car crashes including drunk driving, cell phone accidents, and wrongful death accidents
• Truck crashes involving 18-wheelers and tractor-trailers
• Motorcycle crashes involving serious injuries
• Bus crashes involving public and private bus companies
• Bicycle accidents involving serious and fatal injuries
• Pedestrian accidents involving motor vehicles, trucks and bicycles
• ATV accidents and dirt bike accidents
• Boating accidents involving boating under the influence of alcohol

We thoroughly investigate motor vehicle accidents to identify all negligent parties so that we can pursue all available compensation. Negligent parties may include the designers and manufacturers of defective auto parts. In cases involving a hit-and-run or a driver lacking insurance, we will pursue all available uninsured/underinsured motorists coverage in order to get you the compensation you deserve.

How A California Injury Claim Works

Most motor vehicle claims follow the same shape regardless of what kind of vehicle was involved. Someone owed a duty of care, fell short of it, and caused an injury as a result. What changes from case to case is who that party turns out to be, whether another driver, a trucking company, a vehicle or parts manufacturer, or the public agency responsible for a road.

California applies pure comparative fault, which means being partly responsible reduces a recovery rather than eliminating it. Someone found 25 percent at fault would generally recover 75 percent of their damages. Insurers understand this well, which is why they invest so much effort in arguing that your share was larger than it was.

Deadlines That Apply

Under California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, a personal injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years. A claim for vehicle damage alone generally has three years under section 338.

Where a public entity is involved, such as a city bus, a government vehicle, a dangerous road or a malfunctioning signal, a written claim generally must be presented within six months under the California Tort Claims Act. That is the deadline that most often catches people out, because it arrives long before anyone expects to be thinking about a lawsuit.

Evidence Disappears On Its Own Schedule

Vehicles get repaired or sold for salvage. Intersection and business camera footage is written over on a cycle measured in weeks. Commercial vehicles carry electronic data that is routinely purged. None of that waits for an injured person to finish treatment and decide what to do, which is the practical reason to get advice early rather than when a deadline approaches.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the other driver left the scene or had no insurance?

Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may apply, and it also covers hit-and-run situations in many policies. Many California drivers carry this coverage without realising it.

What if I was partly at fault?

California uses pure comparative fault. Your recovery is reduced by your share of responsibility rather than barred.

What if a defective part caused the crash?

A claim may lie against the designer or manufacturer in addition to, or instead of, another driver. Preserving the vehicle itself becomes critical in these cases.

What if a government vehicle or a bad road was involved?

A written claim generally must be presented to the public entity within six months, which is far shorter than the usual deadline.

How long do I have to bring a claim?

Generally two years for injury under section 335.1, three years for vehicle damage under section 338, and six months where a public entity is involved.