3,774 people were killed or injured in traffic collisions in Long Beach in 2023. Measured against the city’s population and traffic volume, that is the worst record of the fifteen California cities with populations over 250,000. The year before, the city ranked third.
The number that should change how you handle a claim here is a different one. People killed or injured in hit-and-run collisions in Long Beach went from 335 in 2022 to 496 in 2023, moving the city from fifth worst to second in a single year. When the other driver is never identified, the claim is not against them. It is against your own policy, and it is a different case from the start.
Culver Legal, LLP acts for injured drivers and passengers across Long Beach on contingency, with case costs advanced. Nothing to pay up front, no fee unless we win. We advance the case costs, and if there is no recovery you are not charged those costs either. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour.
- $4,000,000Auto Accident
- $3,550,000Auto Accident
- $3,550,000Personal Injury
- $2,500,000Commercial Accident
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case turns on its own facts.
The First Question Is Not Who Was at Fault. It Is What Insurance Exists
Fault decides whether you have a claim. Insurance decides what that claim can actually recover, and people find this out far too late.
California’s minimum liability limits changed, and the date the other driver’s policy was issued or renewed decides which set applies to your crash. Under Vehicle Code 16056:
| Policy issued or renewed | One person | Two or more | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before January 1, 2025 | $15,000 | $30,000 | $5,000 |
| On or after January 1, 2025 | $30,000 | $60,000 | $15,000 |
One hospital admission and one surgery can exhaust either figure. Where the at-fault driver carries the minimum, the real recovery usually comes from somewhere else: your own underinsured motorist coverage, a second at-fault party, or an employer whose driver was working at the time. Finding those is the work, and it happens early or not at all.
When the Other Driver Leaves
Nearly five hundred people were killed or injured in hit-and-run collisions in Long Beach in 2023, up from 335 the year before. That is not a footnote here, it is a normal case.
Uninsured motorist coverageage on your own policy is usually the route. It exists precisely for a driver who cannot be identified or carries nothing, and making a claim on it is not the same as being at fault. Two things worth knowing:
- Many policies impose their own notice requirements, and those can be far shorter than the two-year limitation period. An uninsured motorist claim reported late can be refused on that ground alone, so the policy wording is worth checking immediately rather than eventually.
- A police report matters more here than in an ordinary claim, because the insurer will want the crash documented as a hit and run rather than as an unexplained loss.
How Long Do You Have?
Two years from the date of the crash under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1.
Six months if a public entity is involved, under Government Code 911.2. Separately, Government Code 945.4 bars a lawsuit for money damages until that claim has been presented and the entity has either acted on it or is treated as having rejected it. A claim the entity simply ignores is deemed rejected once the 45 days are up, which is what allows the lawsuit to proceed. A city vehicle, a failed signal, a dangerous road condition: any of those puts you on the six-month clock.
And presenting the claim is not the last deadline. Once the entity mails or delivers a written rejection, Government Code 945.6 gives you six months from the date of that notice to file suit. If the entity never sends a written rejection, the period is two years from when the cause of action accrued instead. A claim that is ignored therefore leaves more time than one that is formally rejected, which is the opposite of what most people expect.
In Long Beach the claim goes to the City Clerk, 411 West Ocean Blvd, not to a claims or risk department. Death, injury to a person and damage to personal property must be filed within six months. Damage to real property has one year.
Not sure whether a public entity is involved?
It changes your deadline from two years to six months. One conversation establishes it.
Getting the Collision Report
For a crash on a Long Beach street the report comes from the Long Beach Police Department, through its Collision Investigation Detail. The fee is $29, non-refundable, per application. The Records Division is on 562-570-7381.
Do not file a Public Records Act request for it. The city states plainly that collision reports are not released through that process, so a PRA request costs weeks and returns nothing.
A crash on a freeway is normally the California Highway Patrol’s rather than the city’s, and that is a separate request.
Where Would Your Case Be Heard?
At the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse, 275 Magnolia. Since October 2022 the Los Angeles Superior Court has assigned newly filed personal injury cases to the judicial district where the incident arose, rather than where anyone lives or where a defendant is based. A Long Beach crash is heard in Long Beach, before a jury drawn from here. A claim seeking more than $35,000 is an unlimited civil case.
What If You Were Partly at Fault?
You can still recover. California reduces recovery in proportion to your share of the blame rather than barring it, so a driver found 25 percent responsible still recovers 75 percent.
Insurers open with fault arguments precisely because most people assume the opposite and stop. On a serious claim those percentages are worth real money, which is why the first recorded call is about what you were doing rather than about what happened to you.
What to Do in the First Week
See a doctor, and do not wait to feel worse. A gap between the crash and the first medical visit is the single most reliable argument an insurer has for reducing a claim, and soft tissue and head injuries routinely take days to declare themselves.
Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer. You are not obliged to, and the questions are written to produce admissions about speed, distance and attention.
Photograph the scene, not only the damage. Signal timing, sight lines, road surface and skid marks stop existing quickly.
Keep every out-of-pocket receipt, including mileage to appointments and the cost of help at home. These are recoverable and they are the ones people forget.
Hurt in a Long Beach crash?
The review costs nothing and commits you to nothing. The deadlines run either way.
Long Beach Car Accident FAQs
How much does a car accident lawyer cost in California?
These claims are handled on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win. Case costs, meaning records, experts and filing fees, are advanced rather than billed to you as they arise. What that means practically is that the cost of asking is nothing, and the decision about whether a claim is worth pursuing gets made before you are committed to anything.
Do insurance companies prefer to settle?
Yes, and understanding why is useful rather than cynical. Settling caps a known cost, avoids the expense of defending, and removes the risk of a jury. That is why offers arrive early, and it is also why early offers are usually low: they are made before anyone knows what the injury will cost. An insurer preferring to settle is not the same as an insurer offering what the claim is worth.
What if the driver who hit me drove off?
That is common in Long Beach and it does not end the claim. The number of people killed or injured in hit-and-run collisions here rose from 335 to 496 in one year. Where the driver is never identified, the route is normally the uninsured motorist coverageage on your own policy, which exists for exactly this and which does not penalize you for a crash you did not cause. Report it to the police and to your own insurer quickly, because uninsured motorist claims carry notice requirements shorter than the two-year deadline.
The other driver only had minimum insurance. Is it worth pursuing?
Often yes, but not necessarily against that driver. The minimum is $30,000 for one person on policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, and $15,000 on older ones, and a serious injury exceeds either. The question then becomes whether there is a second source: your own underinsured motorist coverage, an employer if the driver was working, or another party who contributed to the crash. Establishing that early is what decides whether the claim goes anywhere.
Do I have to give the other insurer a recorded statement?
No. You have obligations to your own insurer under your policy. You have none to the other driver’s carrier, and a recorded statement given before you know the extent of your injuries is used to establish both fault percentages and the idea that you were not badly hurt.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Two years from the date of the crash under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. Six months if a public entity is involved, and that shorter deadline is for presenting a written claim, filed in Long Beach with the City Clerk at 411 West Ocean Blvd. A city vehicle, a failed signal or a dangerous road condition all put you on the six-month clock, and it is easy to miss because nothing about the crash announces it.
Contact a Culver Legal Long Beach Car Accident Lawyer
Long Beach has the worst traffic-safety ranking of California’s fifteen largest cities, and nearly five hundred people were killed or injured in hit-and-run collisions here in 2023. If the driver left, or if a public entity was involved, the claim is not the one you think it is. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour. The review costs nothing.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Culver Legal, LLP is a California law firm. The information on this page is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
