Eleven pedestrians aged 65 or over were killed or injured in Huntington Park in 2023. Measured against the city’s population and traffic volume, that is the worst record of the 103 California cities of between 50,001 and 100,000 people. The year before the figure was five, and the city ranked 15th of 104. It more than doubled in a year.
Pedestrians of every age fare badly here: 36 people on foot were killed or injured in 2023, which puts Huntington Park second worst of that same group of 103, and it was second worst the year before too.
Culver Legal, LLP acts for injured pedestrians and their families across Huntington Park 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. We speak Spanish. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour.
If an Older Relative Was Hit, Read This Part First
The city’s worst category and the deadline that ends claims meet in the same place, so this is the most important thing on the page.
A claim involving a public entity must be presented in writing within six months, under Government Code 911.2, rather than the ordinary two years. A city vehicle, a public employee, or a crossing that was dangerously designed or maintained all put you on that clock.
Six months is not long when somebody is seriously hurt, and for an older person who is in the hospital, in rehabilitation, or unable to manage their own affairs, it can pass before anyone has thought about a lawyer.
If it has already passed, that is not necessarily the end. Under Government Code 911.4 a written application can be made for permission to present a late claim, within a reasonable time and no more than one year after the claim arose. Under Government Code 911.6 the board shall grant that application on any of several grounds, and two of them are squarely on point here: that the injured person was physically or mentally incapacitated during the claim period and for that reason did not present a claim, and that the person died before the six months expired.
Two further grounds matter here and are easy to miss, because they are the ones most people actually fall under. Government Code 911.6(b) also requires the application to be granted where the injured person was a minor for any part of the six months, or was physically or mentally incapacitated for any part of it, provided the application is made within six months of them turning eighteen or of the incapacity ending, or a year after the claim accrued, whichever comes first.
“Shall grant” is the statute’s word. It is not automatic and it is not a reason to wait, but it means a missed deadline is a question to ask rather than an answer to accept.
Where the Claim Actually Goes
The City Clerk, City of Huntington Park, 6550 Miles Avenue, Huntington Park, CA 90255.
The city’s own Claim for Damage form says it in one line: file with the City Clerk within six months following the accident. The form cites the Government Claims Act at Government Code sections 810 and following, and section 911.2.
Huntington Park has put the next step into its own municipal code, which most cities have not. Ordinance 624-NS, effective 15 December 1999, requires the city to act on a claim within 45 days of it being presented. Government Code 912.4 sets the same period statewide, but here the city has written it into its own rules.
Presenting a false claim is a felony under Penal Code section 72, which is on the form and is worth taking seriously.
Was a public road, signal or vehicle involved?
Then it is six months, to the City Clerk, not two years. One conversation establishes whether it applies.
What the Crosswalk Law Actually Says
Vehicle Code 21950 decides these claims, and it is misstated in both directions.
A crosswalk does not have to be painted. Subdivision (a) requires a driver to yield to a pedestrian crossing within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Most intersections have a legal crosswalk whether or not anyone has painted lines on it.
The driver’s duty is more than yielding. Subdivision (c) requires a driver approaching a pedestrian in any crosswalk to exercise all due care and to reduce speed or take other action as necessary to safeguard that pedestrian.
Pedestrians have duties too, and they are narrower than claimed. Subdivision (b) requires due care and prohibits suddenly leaving a curb into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to be an immediate hazard. But subdivision (d) states that this does not relieve the driver of the duty of due care. Both duties exist at once, which is why these cases turn on apportionment rather than on one answer.
And since 2023, being stopped is harder. Subdivision (e), added by AB 2147, provides that an officer shall not stop a pedestrian for a violation of this section unless a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of a collision. It changes nobody’s civil duty of care, but it does mean the absence of a citation says less than it used to.
Being Blamed Is Routine, and It Is Not the End
A pedestrian claim routinely opens with the insurer suggesting the person stepped out, was distracted, wore dark clothing, or crossed away from a crosswalk.
California reduces recovery in proportion to your share of the blame rather than barring it. A pedestrian found 25 percent responsible still recovers 75 percent. On a serious injury those percentages are worth a great deal, which is exactly why the argument arrives early and arrives confidently.
What tends to answer it is evidence that does not last: signal timing, sight lines, vehicle speed, lighting, and footage from nearby businesses, which in our experience is often overwritten within days or weeks.
Getting the Collision Report
For a collision on a Huntington Park street the report comes from the Huntington Park Police Department, which is the city’s own force.
- A traffic collision report costs $41.00. The department notes its fees are subject to change annually. It is higher than the report fee in several other California cities, so it is worth knowing before you go.
- Records Bureau: (323) 826-6611. The counter is at 6542 Miles Avenue, next to City Hall, open Monday to Thursday 8am to 6pm and Friday 8am to 5pm, closed weekends.
- Reports are released to a defined list, which includes the driver involved, the registered owner, the parents of a minor driver, passengers named in the report, insurers of a party, anyone incurring property damage or civil liability, and attorneys representing any of those. **Reports are not released to witnesses.**
Where Would the Case Be Heard?
Not at the courthouse in Huntington Park, and this catches people out.
There is a Superior Court building in Huntington Park, but the Los Angeles Superior Court does not assign civil cases there. According to the court’s own filing court locator for this city:
- **An unlimited civil case, meaning a claim seeking more than $35,000, is assigned to the Norwalk Courthouse**, 12720 Norwalk Blvd, Norwalk, CA 90650.
- A limited civil case, under $35,000, goes to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
So the size of the claim decides the building. Since October 2022 the Los Angeles Superior Court has assigned newly filed personal injury cases to the judicial district where the incident arose, which is why a Huntington Park collision stays in this part of the county rather than following anyone’s home address.
St. Francis Medical Center is a Level II trauma center and Los Angeles General Medical Center is a Level I adult trauma center.
Hit while walking in Huntington Park?
The review costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Camera footage does not wait for it.
Huntington Park Pedestrian Accident FAQs
My elderly parent was hit and the six months has already passed. Is the claim gone?
Not necessarily, and this is worth asking about rather than assuming. Where a public entity is involved, Government Code 911.4 allows a written application for permission to present a late claim within a reasonable time and no more than a year after it arose, and Government Code 911.6 says the board shall grant it on any of several grounds. Two apply directly to older claimants: that the injured person was physically or mentally incapacitated during the six months and for that reason did not claim, and that the person died before the six months expired. It is not automatic, and the sooner it is raised the better.
I was crossing outside a marked crosswalk. Do I still have a claim?
Very likely yes. Intersections commonly have legal unmarked crosswalks, and Vehicle Code 21950(a) requires drivers to yield in those exactly as in painted ones. Even where you were genuinely outside a crosswalk, California reduces recovery by your share of the blame rather than barring it, and the driver’s own duty of due care does not disappear because of where you crossed.
What should I not tell my insurance company?
Nothing untrue, and nothing you are guessing at. The real risk is not lying, it is speculating: giving a speed, a distance, or a diagnosis you do not actually know, or saying you feel fine before you have been examined. Those become fixed answers in a file. You have obligations to your own insurer under your policy, but you are not obliged to give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer, and that is a different conversation entirely.
What should I not tell an attorney?
Nothing. The conversation is confidential, and the facts that feel damaging, a previous injury, a gap before seeing a doctor, a share of the responsibility, are exactly the ones that need handling properly rather than hiding. They surface anyway, and they are much easier to deal with early.
Is it better to settle with insurance or get a lawyer?
An early offer arrives before anyone knows what the injury will cost, which is precisely why it arrives early. It is not always wrong to accept one, but it should be a decision made with the medical picture in front of you, because a settlement is final and cannot be reopened when treatment turns out to be longer than expected. A review costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Does my immigration status affect my claim?
No, and the protection is stronger than most people expect. Under Evidence Code 351.2, evidence of a person’s immigration status is not admissible in a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, and discovery into it is not permitted either. It cannot be raised at trial and it cannot be asked about beforehand. It is not a question we ask you, and it is not a question the other side gets to ask.
Contact a Culver Legal Huntington Park Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
In 2023 Huntington Park had the worst record of the 103 California cities of its size for pedestrians aged 65 and over. If a public entity was involved your deadline is six months rather than two years, and if it has already passed there may still be a route. We speak Spanish. 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.
