Santa Ana Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Santa Ana’s injury problem is on its surface streets, not its freeways. Bristol Street, Harbor Boulevard, Main Street, First Street, 17th Street, McFadden Avenue, Warner Avenue and Edinger Avenue are six-lane arterials with long distances between signals, bus stops mid-block and heavy foot traffic from schools, markets and apartments. People cross where they live and shop, drivers travel at speeds built for the road rather than the neighborhood, and left-turning drivers look for cars rather than for the person already in the crosswalk. At night, lighting on several of these corridors is poor.

In the California Office of Traffic Safety’s 2023 rankings, Santa Ana had 1,972 people killed or injured in crashes and ranked 4th-worst of the 15 California cities with more than 250,000 residents. It ranked 3rd for speed-related crashes (319), 3rd for child pedestrians hurt (17), 4th for bicyclists (115), 5th for pedestrians overall (157), 5th for hit-and-run injury crashes (229) and 5th for nighttime crashes (219) (OTS Crash Rankings, 2023). The city’s own Vision Zero plan update cites the same OTS data and names Flower Street, Edinger Avenue, Segerstrom Avenue, MacArthur Boulevard and Dyer Road as its next priority corridors.

Hit-and-run is common here too — 229 injury hit-and-run crashes in 2023, including the Edinger Avenue crash below. When the driver is never found, the victim’s own uninsured-motorist coverage, or a household member’s, is often the only source of recovery.

• 72-year-old pedestrian killed on Main Street near Cubbon Street in Santa Ana (October 2026)
• Pedestrian killed crossing Warner Avenue at Yale Street (August 2026)
• Arrest in an Edinger Avenue hit-and-run that left a pedestrian with major injuries (August 2026)
• 72-year-old cyclist killed by a driver at McFadden Avenue and Fairview Street (September 2026)

All Santa Ana accident news · Law Blog

The most serious injuries go to UCI Medical Center in Orange (Level I trauma center) or Orange County Global Medical Center on North Tustin Avenue in Santa Ana (Level II). If a lawsuit is needed it is filed in the Orange County Superior Court, Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, CA 92701.

On city streets the collision report comes from the Santa Ana Police Department; on the I-5, SR-55 and SR-22 it comes from the CHP Santa Ana Area office. We pull the report for our clients at no cost.

Veh. Code § 21950 requires a driver to yield to a pedestrian crossing in a marked crosswalk or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, to slow down and to exercise all due care for the pedestrian’s safety. Every intersection in Santa Ana has an unmarked crosswalk by law, paint or no paint. The section also says a pedestrian must not suddenly leave the curb into the path of a car — the argument insurers make in almost every case. The physical evidence usually answers it.

Under Veh. Code § 21954 a pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk must yield to vehicles — but the driver still must exercise due care for any pedestrian in the roadway. Crossing mid-block on Harbor or Bristol does not end your claim; under pure comparative negligence (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975)) it may reduce it by a percentage, and a speeding or distracted driver carries most of the fault.

Civil Code § 1714 is the duty of care every driver owes. When the dangerous condition belonged to a public agency — a burned-out signal, a missing crosswalk on a known high-injury corridor, an OCTA bus, a city vehicle — a government claim must be presented within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2). Otherwise the deadline is two years (CCP § 335.1).

A driver who hits a person and leaves commits a felony under Veh. Code § 20001. For the victim the civil remedy is usually uninsured-motorist coverage (Ins. Code § 11580.2) — on your own car insurance even though you were on foot, or on the policy of a relative you live with. Report the crash to Santa Ana Police within 24 hours; we then subpoena business cameras, OCTA bus video and city traffic cameras to identify the car.

Driving faster than is safe for conditions violates the basic speed law (Veh. Code § 22350) even under the posted limit; handheld phone use violates § 23123.5; DUI violates § 23152 and allows punitive damages (Taylor v. Superior Court (1979)). Since January 1, 2025 the minimum policy is $30,000 per person (SB 1107) — rarely enough for a pedestrian injury, which is why we look for every applicable policy.

The first offer arrives before anyone knows how badly you are hurt, and signing it ends the claim. Our team includes former insurance adjusters who know how carriers value Orange County pedestrian accident claims and what they leave out. We take every call from the insurance company so you never have to.

In pedestrian cases we move fast on video: business cameras overwrite in days and OCTA bus footage is kept only briefly. In a hit-and-run, finding the car is often the whole case.

• Order the Santa Ana PD or CHP report and your 911 records.
• Send preservation letters for business, bus and traffic-camera video before it is overwritten.
• Help you get your vehicle repaired or valued, and a rental where coverage allows.
• Refer you to doctors and specialists in Orange County who treat on a lien, so care does not wait for a settlement.
• In some cases, help arrange pre-settlement funding so bills do not force a bad decision.
• Open the claim with every insurer that may owe coverage, including your own UM/UIM policy.

Most Santa Ana pedestrian accident claims settle once treatment is finished and a complete demand goes out — often within a few months. If the insurer will not pay what the case is worth, we file in Orange County Superior Court; litigated cases commonly take one to two years and most still settle before trial.

Deadlines run from the day of the crash: two years for injury (CCP § 335.1) and only six months to present a government claim if the City of Santa Ana, OCTA, Caltrans or a road defect is involved (Gov. Code § 911.2).

No attorney fee unless we win. Whether case costs are deducted from a recovery is explained in your written fee agreement. Everything is explained in writing before we start.

Results shown on our About page include a $2,500,000 settlement after an initial offer of $100,000, and Lyft and Uber accident settlements after initial offers of $60,000 and $30,000. Results vary. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Beverly Law was founded in 2008 and has 4.8 stars from 600+ Google reviews. Cases are reviewed by Michael Shemtoub, Esq. (California State Bar #253948, admitted 2007), a former corporate attorney who also worked for a federal judge, a Super Lawyers Rising Star 2015–2017, rated 10.0 “Superb” by Avvo.

Pedestrian injuries are usually serious, so these cases often exceed the driver’s policy limit. The value depends on the injuries and recovery, medical bills and future care, lost income, how clear the driver’s fault is and how much insurance exists on every policy — the driver’s, your own UM/UIM and sometimes a household member’s. We give you an honest range once we have the police report and the medical records.

Yes. Crossing mid-block may give you a percentage of fault under comparative negligence, but the driver still had to exercise due care (Veh. Code § 21954), and a driver who was speeding, distracted or drunk carries most of the fault. Many of our pedestrian clients were outside a marked crosswalk.

Usually not. Most Santa Ana pedestrian accident claims settle with the insurer before a lawsuit is filed, and most filed cases settle before trial. If a lawsuit is needed it is filed at the Orange County Superior Court’s Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West in Santa Ana, and we handle every hearing. You would only testify at a deposition or trial, and we prepare you for both.

Yes. California follows pure comparative negligence (Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 1975). Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault but never eliminated — a person found 40% at fault still recovers 60% of their damages. Insurers routinely inflate the victim’s share, which is one reason not to give a recorded statement.

A claim with clear fault and finished treatment can settle in three to six months. Serious injuries, disputed fault or several insurers take longer, and a case filed in Orange County Superior Court commonly takes one to two years. We do not rush a settlement before your doctors know whether you will need future care.

Yes. Beverly Law’s intake team, case managers and attorneys work in Spanish and English every day. Calls, texts, WhatsApp and documents can all be in Spanish, and this page has a Spanish version (the ES button at the top).

Our office is at 4929 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 960, Los Angeles, CA 90010, about 35 miles from Santa Ana. We serve Santa Ana clients by phone, video and WhatsApp and meet in person in Orange County by appointment; most clients never need to come to Los Angeles. Call 1 (877) 427-2752 any time.