Los Angeles Bicycle Accident Lawyers

Wilshire Law Firm's Los Angeles office is downtown at 660 S. Figueroa St., and we represent riders across the city, from Woodland Hills and the rest of the San Fernando Valley to the Westside, Hollywood, and South LA. A Los Angeles bike case runs through local offices: the LAPD traffic division that took the report, the City Clerk when a street or city vehicle is involved, and the Superior Court district where the crash happened.

From the first call, our attorneys gather the report and your medical records, handle the insurance companies, and keep you informed. We may also ask nearby businesses to preserve their camera footage. If you ride with a bike computer or camera, save its files.

LAPD's four traffic divisions (Central, South, Valley, and West) investigate collisions on City of Los Angeles streets. Ask for the report number before you leave if you're able to; insurers tend to start with the officer's version of who turned, passed, or opened a door.

If the street itself or a government vehicle helped cause the crash, a written claim must be presented to the public agency within six months (Gov. Code §911.2), and each agency has its own office:

• City of Los Angeles: the Office of the City Clerk is the only office that can receive the claim. File it online, by mail, or at Room 395, 200 N. Spring St.
• Los Angeles County: send the original to the Executive Officer–Clerk of the Board (Room 383, 500 W. Temple St.) by U.S. mail, or deliver it in person.
• LA Metro: deliver or mail it to Metro's Legal Services office; Metro rejects claims sent by email.

Measure HLA (Healthy Streets LA), which voters approved in March 2024, requires the City to install the enhanced mobility networks of its Mobility Plan 2035 when it makes qualifying street improvements, and LADOT tracks those projects on a public dashboard. A later lawsuit goes to the Superior Court district that covers the crash location.

Many Los Angeles bike crashes come from drivers who don't account for a rider:

• Turning across a rider: left turns into an oncoming cyclist and right turns across a bike lane. A driver turning across a bike lane must move into the lane before turning (Veh. Code §21717). In both of the Los Angeles County results below, a turning driver hit the cyclist.
• Passing too close: drivers must leave at least three feet (§21760).
• Dooring: a parked driver or passenger opening a door into the rider's path (§22517).
• Driving in the bike lane: drivers may enter a bike lane only to park, to enter or leave the road, or to prepare for a turn within 200 feet of an intersection (§21209).
• Road defects: potholes and broken pavement, which may make the agency that maintains the street responsible (Gov. Code §835).
• Distracted driving: drivers looking at a phone, a navigation screen, or a delivery app.

Our attorneys look into which of these happened and who is responsible for it.

A rider has no frame or airbag between them and the car, so even a low-speed crash can cause broken bones, head and traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and road rash. Serious head trauma may require long-term care; learn more about our Los Angeles brain injury representation.

The Los Angeles County EMS Agency designates 15 trauma centers, including four adult Level I centers: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles General Medical Center, and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The emergency records from your first hospital visit, along with your follow-up care, become the core medical proof in your claim.

We take the claim off your hands so you can focus on recovering. Our attorneys get the LAPD report, collect your medical bills and records, and handle the insurance companies. We may also inspect the bike and helmet, request video from nearby businesses, and work with accident reconstruction engineers when fault is disputed.

We look for the insurance that may pay, including the driver's liability policy, an employer's policy if the driver was working, and your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. When a public agency may share responsibility, we prepare and present the government claim.

An injured cyclist can pursue compensation for medical expenses now and in the future, lost wages and lost earning capacity, the bike and gear damaged in the crash (helmet, lights, clothing, and any bike computer or camera), and pain and suffering. Keep the damaged bike and gear as they are, along with receipts and repair estimates.

When a crash takes a rider's life, certain family members may bring a wrongful death claim (Code Civ. Proc. §377.60). Our Los Angeles wrongful death lawyers handle those cases.

The clock starts on the day of the crash. A personal injury lawsuit generally has to be filed within two years (Code Civ. Proc. §335.1), and a lawsuit over the damaged bike and gear within three years (§338(c)(1)). A crash involving a City of Los Angeles, LA County, or LA Metro vehicle or street adds an earlier step: a written claim to that agency within six months (Gov. Code §911.2). Talk with a lawyer early, because a missed deadline can end the case.

Cases we have resolved for cyclists, starting with Los Angeles County:

• $2.2 million (2025, Los Angeles County): a cyclist in a helmet was hit by a food-delivery driver making a left turn.
• $250,000 (2026, Los Angeles): a cyclist with a green light was riding through an intersection when a turning driver failed to yield.
• $9.5 million (2023, Riverside County): a pothole threw a rider, who suffered serious head injuries. The claims named public entities and alleged that the road was in a dangerous condition.
• $5 million (2022, Ontario): a wrongful death settlement after a commercial truck clipped a cyclist at a freeway exit. The rider died about a week later.

More cycling results are on our settlements and verdicts page.

Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different.