Irvine Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Our Irvine office is at 15707 Rockfield Blvd., Suite 320, Irvine, CA 92618. Call (949) 591-8266 day or night; the intake team is available 24/7, and hablamos español. We meet clients at the office by appointment. See our Irvine office page for directions and the full range of cases we handle in Orange County.

A selection of our pedestrian results from cases elsewhere in California:

• $36 million (2025, Fresno): a commercial delivery van struck a child crossing the street, causing a traumatic brain injury.
• $9.1 million (2025, Pasadena): a company work truck turning left hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk at high speed; the pedestrian died.
• $8 million (2026, Santa Monica): a city tractor struck a person on foot on the beach at night, causing serious head injuries.
• $2 million (2026, Emeryville): a car pulling out of a store parking lot hit a person in a crosswalk.

See all of them on our settlements and verdicts page.

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

The report. The Irvine Police Department investigates collisions on city streets and has a Major Accident Investigation Team for the most serious crashes. Attorneys can request reports online, and a hit-and-run report needs a traffic investigator's approval before release. On the freeways, the report comes from the CHP: its Santa Ana Area patrols the I-5 and I-405, and its Capistrano Area patrols routes including the 133, 73 and 241. On the UC Irvine campus, the report may come from the UCI Police Department.

The court. Orange County Superior Court sends limited and unlimited civil cases from every city in the county to the Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Dr. W., Santa Ana.

Claims against public agencies, each due within six months (Gov. Code §911.2):

• City of Irvine: the City Clerk, on Form 10-04 "Claim for Damages," P.O. Box 19575, Irvine, CA 92623-9575.
• County of Orange: the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 400 W. Civic Center Dr., 6th Floor, Santa Ana.
• OCTA buses: mail OCTA's Claim for Damage form to OCTA – Risk Management, P.O. Box 14184, Orange, CA 92863-9831, within six months. An injury claim also needs OCTA's Medicare Reporting Form.
• State highways and ramps (the 5, 405 and 133 through Irvine): the Caltrans District 12 claims office in Santa Ana for claims of $12,500 or less, or the state's Government Claims Program for larger claims.

Where crashes happen. Irvine reports fewer pedestrian injuries than most large California cities: 37 people killed or injured in 2023, ranked 15th of 15 (first is worst) by the state Office of Traffic Safety. The crashes that do happen tend to be serious. The City's 2022 Local Roadway Safety Plan found that pedestrians' share of fatal and severe-injury collisions was more than three times their share of all injury collisions, and that 62% of pedestrian injury collisions involved people crossing in a crosswalk at an intersection. Its hot spots include Campus Drive between University Drive and Turtle Rock Drive, next to UC Irvine. The City began a safety study of Campus Drive in May 2026, and in August 2026 it opened a walking and biking bridge over the I-5 on the Jeffrey Open Space Trail.

Trauma care. UCI Health in Orange is a Level I adult trauma center; Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo is a Level II center, and Rady Children's Hospital Orange County is a Level I pediatric trauma center.

Our Irvine office handles pedestrian cases from across Orange County, and the county's injury lawsuits are generally filed at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

Santa Ana. The Santa Ana Police Department's Traffic Division investigates crashes in the city through its Collision Investigative Unit. Santa Ana recorded 157 pedestrians killed or injured in 2023, ranked fifth of 15 large California cities (first is worst), and its Vision Zero plan found that 16% of pedestrian collisions from 2017 to 2021 killed or seriously injured someone, compared with 2% of vehicle collisions. Claims go to the City Clerk, 20 Civic Center Plaza, 8th Floor (mail to P.O. Box 1988), and the City requires the original signed form. Santa Ana adopted a Vision Zero Action Plan on June 4, 2024, aiming to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040.

Anaheim. The Anaheim Police Department takes crash reports, and claims go to the Office of the City Clerk, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., Suite 217, as an original form delivered in person or by mail. Anaheim recorded 96 pedestrians killed or injured in 2023, and with more than 25 million visitors a year at the Anaheim Resort, many on foot along Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue, the City has studied pedestrian circulation there.

Costa Mesa. The Costa Mesa Police Department's Traffic Safety Bureau investigates collisions and has a Major Accident Investigation Team for critical-injury and fatal crashes. Its 2024 review listed Harbor Boulevard at Adams Avenue and Newport Boulevard at 19th Street among the city's high-collision locations. Under the City's municipal code, injury claims against Costa Mesa are due within six months.

The same state rules apply in every Orange County city. Drivers must yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks and in unmarked crosswalks at intersections (Veh. Code §21950(a)), and a driver turning right on red must yield to pedestrians in the adjacent crosswalk (§21453(b)). Someone crossing mid-block must yield to vehicles that are an immediate hazard, but drivers still owe due care (§21954). Since January 1, 2023, police may ticket a pedestrian for crossing outside a crosswalk only when a reasonably careful person would see an immediate danger of a collision (§21955(b)). Speed counts too: the basic speed law requires a speed that is reasonable for the conditions, which can be lower than the posted limit (§22350).

Beyond the driver, the vehicle's owner (Veh. Code §17150), an employer whose driver was on the job, and a public entity responsible for a dangerous crossing, signal or streetlight (Gov. Code §835) can share responsibility. Compensation can cover medical treatment, lost income and earning capacity, and pain and suffering, and a family may bring a wrongful death claim after a fatal crash.

Deadlines at a glance:

• Injury lawsuit against a driver: two years (Code Civ. Proc. §335.1).
• Claim against Irvine, another city, the County, a transit agency or Caltrans: six months (Gov. Code §911.2).
• Lawsuit after a written claim rejection: six months from the notice (Gov. Code §945.6).
• Hit-and-run with uninsured motorist coverage: report the crash to police within 24 hours (Ins. Code §11580.2).

Read more about California's statute of limitations for vehicle accident claims.