Hit By A Car In California? Your Pedestrian Accident Guide
If a driver hit you while you were walking in California, you can pursue money for your medical bills, lost income, and pain, usually from the driver, and sometimes from a city or the state. The catch is timing. You have two years to sue a private driver. But if a public bus, a badly designed crosswalk, or a government vehicle played any part, that window can shrink to 180 days. Miss it and the claim usually dies. This pedestrian accident guide covers the fault rules, the deadlines that trip people up, the insurance layers that decide what you can collect, and how adjusters actually put a number on a case, written from time spent on the insurance-defense side before I represented injured people.
A California pedestrian accident claim is a personal injury case brought by someone struck by a vehicle while walking, jogging, or standing near traffic. It seeks payment for medical care, lost wages, and pain and suffering from the at-fault driver, their employer, or a public entity whose negligence helped cause the crash.
Why California is the deadliest state for people on foot
California loses more pedestrians than any other state. In 2023, 1,106 people were killed while walking here, down from 1,213 in 2022 but still about three lives a day, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Most of these crashes share a pattern. They happen after dark, on wide city streets, where a driver never slows down. Los Angeles County carries the heaviest share. And the physics keep getting worse. Taller, heavier SUVs and trucks strike a person higher on the body and carry more force than the sedans of a decade ago, which is why even a low-speed hit by a truck can break bones or cause a brain injury.
None of this is bad luck. A pedestrian has no airbag, no crumple zone, nothing between them and two tons of metal. When a driver looks at a phone instead of a crosswalk, the person walking pays for it.
What should you do after being hit by a car?
See a doctor the same day, even if you think you’re fine, and say nothing to the driver’s insurer until you’ve talked to a lawyer. Adrenaline hides injuries. Soft-tissue damage and concussions often surface 24 to 72 hours later, and a gap in your treatment is the first thing an adjuster points to when arguing you weren’t really hurt.
At the scene, if you can move and think clearly, call 911, because California requires a police report for any crash involving injury. Photograph everything: the car, its plate, the crosswalk, the signal, skid marks, your injuries. Get names and numbers from witnesses before they leave. Don’t say “I’m fine” and don’t apologize, since both get quoted back to you later.
In the first two days, report the crash to your own insurer with the plain facts and nothing more. Ask anyone with a camera nearby, a shop, a doorbell, a passing bus, to save the footage, because many systems record over themselves in about 30 days. Stay off social media. A photo of you smiling at a family dinner becomes “proof” you weren’t injured.
Can you still recover if you were partly at fault?
Yes. California is a pure comparative negligence state, which means you can recover even if the crash was mostly your fault, with your award reduced by your share of the blame (Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 1975). If you were crossing outside a crosswalk when a speeding driver hit you, a jury might put 25 percent of the fault on you for $200,000 in damages, and you would still collect $150,000, not nothing.
This matters because insurers say the opposite. Adjusters tell injured pedestrians that stepping outside a crosswalk, or crossing against a light, ends the claim. In California, it doesn’t. Drivers owe a duty of care to people on foot even outside marked crosswalks, and “the pedestrian jaywalked” is a discount argument, not a case-ender. The same rule governs a car accident claim, so the driver’s insurer will still try to pin as much blame on you as it can.
The California deadline that quietly kills pedestrian claims
If a government entity had anything to do with your crash, you may have 180 days to act, not two years. A private driver’s negligence gives you two years to file suit under California Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. But when a city bus, a transit agency, Caltrans, or an unsafe crosswalk or broken signal is involved, you first have to file a formal government claim within six months under California Government Code 911.2.
| Who you are claiming against | Deadline to act | Legal source |
|---|---|---|
| A private driver or their employer | 2 years from the crash | Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 |
| A city, county, the state, Caltrans, or a transit agency (for example, a Metro bus) | 6 months (180 days) to file a government claim | Government Code 911.2 |
| An injured child under 18 | The 2-year clock generally waits until the 18th birthday | Code of Civil Procedure 352 |
That six-month window is the sleeper that ends otherwise strong cases. A pedestrian hit by a public bus in Beverly Hills doesn’t have two years; they have 180 days to put the agency on notice. The safest move is to treat every case as if a short deadline applies, then confirm the real one right away. These deadlines run through every kind of personal injury case, and missing one is usually fatal to the claim.
Who pays when the at-fault driver has too little insurance?
Usually more than one policy, if you know where to look. Since January 1, 2025, California’s minimum liability coverage is 30/60/15 under Senate Bill 1107, meaning a driver may carry as little as $30,000 for one injured person, per the California DMV. For a pedestrian with a fractured pelvis or a brain injury, $30,000 disappears in days.
So the real work is finding every layer of coverage that can apply:
- The at-fault driver’s liability policy pays first.
- Your own auto insurance can pay you even though you were walking. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your policy covers you when the driver has no insurance, carries too little, or flees the scene. Most people have no idea it reaches them on foot.
- Medical payments coverage (MedPay) on your own auto policy pays medical bills regardless of who was at fault.
- The driver’s employer may be responsible if the driver was working, delivering, or driving for hire. If a rideshare driver struck you, a commercial policy of up to $1,000,000 can apply depending on the app status at the moment of the crash.
- A public entity may owe damages if a dangerous crosswalk, missing signal, or hidden sightline contributed.
Hit-and-run is common in pedestrian cases. When the driver is never found, your own uninsured-motorist coverage often becomes the entire case.
How insurance adjusters really value a pedestrian claim
An adjuster doesn’t price your claim by how badly you’re hurt. They price it by what they think they can defend if you sue. I learned that early, working on the insurance-defense side before I represented injured people, and the process is more mechanical than most victims expect.
On the carrier’s side, the process runs like this. The file gets a “reserve,” a private number the carrier sets aside to pay it, which you never see. Your medical records and diagnosis codes get run through claims-valuation software, Colossus being the best known, which scores the injury and produces a settlement range. The adjuster is measured on closing files below reserve, so there’s a built-in reason to open low. Two things pull the number down fast: gaps in your treatment, and anything you said in a recorded statement. Carriers also keep data on lawyers. An attorney who files suit and tries cases pushes the risk score up; one who always settles cheap pushes it down. That’s the real machinery behind “hire someone who will actually go to trial,” and it’s why the same injury can be worth more with the right name on the demand letter.
What is a California pedestrian claim worth in 2026?
What a case is worth comes down to one thing more than any other: the insurance available, not the severity of your injury. This is where the “average settlement” numbers online mislead people. A catastrophic injury against a driver carrying only the 30/60/15 minimum may recover less than a moderate injury against a driver with a million-dollar umbrella policy, unless other coverage, your own UM/UIM, an employer, or a public entity, can be reached. That’s why I won’t hand you an average. It would be close to meaningless.
What actually moves the number:
- Total available coverage across every policy in play.
- How clear the driver’s fault is, and how hard they try to shift it to you.
- Whether your treatment is consistent and well documented, with no unexplained gaps.
- Whether a doctor has tied your future care to the crash in writing.
- Your comparative-fault share, since that percentage comes straight off the top.
Anyone who promises you a specific figure on the first call is guessing. The number comes from the coverage and the evidence, and both take work to pin down.
How Alpha Law PC handles pedestrian accident cases
At Alpha Law PC, a pedestrian case is handled by the attorney you actually hire, not handed to a case manager you never meet. The firm’s founder, Alexander Khoubian, is a licensed California attorney (State Bar #330918) who trained at Los Angeles plaintiff’s firms and on the insurance-defense side, and has been named to Super Lawyers Rising Stars every year from 2022 through 2026.
Pedestrian injury cases are handled on contingency, which means no upfront fee and no attorney fee unless there is a recovery. The office sits at 9701 Wilshire Blvd, Floor 10, in Beverly Hills, and helps people hurt across Los Angeles County. If a pedestrian accident injured you or someone in your family, call (323) 515-3666 for a free consultation to learn which deadlines apply and which policies can be reached before the evidence disappears.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident claim in California?
Two years from the date of the crash for a claim against a private driver, under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. If a government entity is involved, such as a city bus or an unsafe public crosswalk, you have only six months (180 days) to file a government claim under Government Code 911.2. Confirm your deadline early, because the short one is easy to miss.
Can I get money if I was jaywalking when the car hit me?
Yes. California uses pure comparative negligence, so you can recover even if you were partly, or mostly, at fault. Your award is reduced by your percentage of blame. If your damages are $200,000 and you are found 25 percent at fault, you recover $150,000.
What if the driver who hit me had no insurance or drove off?
Your own auto policy may cover you as a pedestrian through uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which applies even though you were walking. That coverage also steps in for hit-and-run drivers who are never identified. MedPay on your policy can pay medical bills regardless of fault.
Who pays my medical bills while my pedestrian accident case is pending?
Options include MedPay on your auto policy, your health insurance, and, in some cases, treatment provided on a medical lien that is paid out of the final settlement. California’s minimum driver liability coverage is 30/60/15, which is often too low for serious pedestrian injuries, so identifying every coverage source matters.
How much is a California pedestrian accident case worth?
It depends far more on the insurance coverage available than on the injury itself. A severe injury against a minimum-limits driver can recover less than a moderate injury against a driver with a large umbrella policy. Be skeptical of any average settlement figure, because the real number turns on coverage and evidence.
Do I need a lawyer for a pedestrian accident in California?
If you were injured, if fault is disputed, or if a government entity or rideshare driver was involved, yes. Those cases involve short deadlines, multiple insurers, and coverage layers that are hard to find alone. Most pedestrian cases are handled on contingency, so there is no upfront cost to be represented.
How soon should I contact a lawyer after being hit by a car?
As soon as you can. Surveillance footage is often recorded over in about 30 days, witnesses forget, and the six-month government-claim deadline can arrive fast. Early contact protects the evidence and the deadlines that decide your case.
Disclaimer: This blog is attorney advertising from Alpha Law PC. It offers general information about California law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different, so talk to a lawyer about yours. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Call (323) 515-3666 for a free consultation.
