Riverside Pedestrian Accident Lawyer

Wilshire Law Firm's Riverside office is at 3880 Lemon St., Suite 410, Riverside, CA 92501, in downtown Riverside. Call (951) 557-6087 any time: our intake team is available 24/7, and hablamos español. Meetings at the office are by appointment. Directions and the other cases we handle are on our Riverside office page.

Results for people hurt outside a vehicle in Riverside and San Bernardino counties:

• $28.7 million (2019, Victorville): a car struck a child waiting to cross the street, causing catastrophic injuries. The defendants included the driver, a business and three public entities.
• $9.5 million (2023, Riverside County): a pothole made a bicycle rider fall, leaving serious head injuries. The claims against public entities alleged a dangerous road condition.
• $5 million (2022, Ontario): a commercial truck clipped a cyclist at a freeway exit, and the rider died about a week later.
• $2 million (2024, Riverside): a commercial pickup turning left hit a cyclist from behind in a bike lane.

Both the Victorville case and the pothole case included claims against public entities, which have to be presented within six months. See more on our settlements and verdicts page.

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

The report. The Riverside Police Department's Traffic Bureau, whose 39 sworn officers include six collision investigators, takes crashes on city streets, and its Major Accident Investigation Team handles fatal and complex collisions. On the 91, 60 and 215 freeways, and in unincorporated communities such as Highgrove, Home Gardens and Mead Valley, the report comes from the CHP's Riverside Area office at 8118 Lincoln Ave.

The court. Lawsuits from the city of Riverside and most of western Riverside County are filed at the Riverside Historic Courthouse, 4050 Main St., under the court's zip-code assignment order effective August 1, 2026. Cases from the desert cities go to the Palm Springs Courthouse, and cases from Menifee, Temecula, Anza and Aguanga to the Menifee Justice Center.

Claims against public agencies must reach the right office within six months (Gov. Code §911.2):

• City of Riverside: the City Clerk, 3900 Main St., online, in person or by mail.
• Riverside County: the Clerk of the Board, Claims Division, 4080 Lemon St., 1st Floor.
• Riverside Transit Agency (RTA): RTA is a joint powers agency, so the same six-month rule applies. Its office is at 1825 Third St.; it does not post a claim form online, so we confirm the filing details with the agency.
• State highways and ramps: the Caltrans District 8 claims office in San Bernardino for claims of $12,500 or less; larger claims go to the state's Government Claims Program.

Where crashes happen. The city recorded 113 pedestrians killed or injured in 2023, ranked ninth of 15 similar-size California cities (first is worst) in the state Office of Traffic Safety rankings. In the safety-corridor study the City Council approved in May 2026, the segments with the most pedestrian collisions from mid-2020 to mid-2025 include Magnolia Avenue between Hole Avenue and La Sierra Avenue (17), La Sierra Avenue between Schuyler Avenue and Middleborough Road (14), and University Avenue between Canyon Crest Drive and Chicago Avenue (12). The City adopted a Local Roadway Safety Plan in December 2022 and in April 2025 set a Vision Zero goal of halving traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040. By August 2024 it had added leading pedestrian intervals, which start the walk signal a few seconds early, at 247 signals.

Trauma care. Riverside Community Hospital on Magnolia Avenue and Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley are Level I trauma centers.

Our Riverside office also represents people hit while walking across San Bernardino County.

San Bernardino. The San Bernardino Police Department takes crash reports on city streets. The city recorded 104 pedestrians killed or injured in 2023, ranked 10th of 62 mid-size California cities (first is worst), and its road safety plan found the most collisions on Kendall Drive between University Parkway and H Street. Claims against the City of San Bernardino go to the City Clerk's Office (in person at 201 North E St., Building A, or by mail to 290 North D St.). Claims against San Bernardino County go to its Risk Management Division at 222 W. Hospitality Lane, not the Clerk of the Board. Lawsuits are filed at the San Bernardino Justice Center, 247 W. Third St.

Fontana and Ontario. In Fontana, the police department's Traffic Unit investigates collisions, and claims go to the City Clerk's Office by mail or hand delivery only, not by email or fax. Fontana's 2022 road safety plan targets Valley Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard and Citrus Avenue, and the police department told planners that pedestrian problems were worst on Foothill. In Ontario, the Ontario Police Department takes reports, and claims can be filed online or mailed to City Clerk/Records Management, 303 East B St. The Rancho Cucamonga courthouse at 8303 Haven Ave. also accepts unlimited civil cases from its area.

Buses. Omnitrans runs the buses in San Bernardino, Fontana and Ontario. It is a public transit agency, so a claim against it is also due within six months; it does not post a claim procedure online, and its headquarters is at 1700 W. Fifth St., San Bernardino.

Trauma care. Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton and Loma Linda University Medical Center are Level I trauma centers, and Loma Linda University Children's Hospital is a Level I pediatric trauma center.

A few Vehicle Code rules decide most Riverside pedestrian cases:

• Crosswalks: a driver must yield to a pedestrian crossing in any marked crosswalk, or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection (§21950(a)).
• Right turns on red: the driver must yield to pedestrians lawfully in the adjacent crosswalk (§21453(b)).
• Crossing mid-block: the pedestrian must yield to vehicles close enough to be an immediate hazard, but the driver still owes due care (§21954).
• Jaywalking tickets: since January 1, 2023, an officer may stop a pedestrian for crossing outside a crosswalk only when a reasonably careful person would see an immediate danger of a collision (§21955(b)). That rule limits police stops, not civil fault, and partial fault only reduces a recovery.
• Speed: nobody may drive faster than is reasonable for conditions, whatever the posted limit (§22350).

Who can be responsible. The driver, and often others: the vehicle's owner (Veh. Code §17150), an employer whose driver was working, and a public entity whose crossing, signal or lighting was in a dangerous condition that it created or knew about in time to fix (Gov. Code §835).

What you can recover. Medical care now and in the future, lost earnings and earning capacity, and pain and suffering. In a fatal case, the family may bring a wrongful death claim.

Deadlines at a glance:

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

More detail: the statute of limitations for California vehicle accident claims.