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The Law Offices of Asher Hoffman represents pedestrians injured by drivers, rideshare vehicles, delivery vans, buses, cyclists, scooter riders, and unsafe roadway conditions in Santa Monica and across the Westside. A pedestrian crash can leave a person facing emergency care, surgery, missed work, long rehabilitation, pain, uncertainty, and an insurance company that tries to minimize the claim before the facts are fully developed.
Santa Monica pedestrian accident cases need fast evidence preservation. The city has dense foot traffic, beach visitors, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, apartment buildings, buses, delivery activity, bike lanes, scooter traffic, and constant rideshare pickups. Video from nearby businesses, residential buildings, parking structures, hotels, buses, dash cameras, and traffic cameras may be overwritten quickly.
If you were hit while walking in Santa Monica, the first consultation is free. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Santa Monica is one of the most walkable and visitor-heavy cities in Los Angeles County. That is good for residents and visitors, but it also creates serious collision risk. Drivers move through crowded corridors while watching for parking, rideshare passengers, bikes, scooters, tourists, delivery vehicles, buses, and freeway access. A single missed lookout can cause catastrophic injuries to someone on foot.
Pedestrian injury claims often involve drivers who say the person “came out of nowhere.” That phrase is not a defense. Drivers must watch the road, yield when required, slow for conditions, and avoid hitting people who are lawfully walking, crossing, entering a crosswalk, leaving a curb, walking near a driveway, or moving through a parking area.
The facts matter. We look at signal phases, lane position, lighting, vehicle speed, sight lines, impact location, crosswalk layout, nearby construction, curb activity, witness accounts, police reports, video, vehicle damage, injury patterns, and whether a public entity or property owner also contributed to the hazard.
Every case depends on its own evidence, but Santa Monica pedestrian collisions often involve these local patterns:
Location matters because it helps identify who may have video, which agency responded, whether a traffic signal or public property issue contributed, and what deadline applies.
Our firm handles pedestrian cases involving crosswalk crashes, left-turn collisions, right-turn collisions, failure to yield, red-light and stop-sign violations, speeding, distracted driving, drunk driving, rideshare pickups and drop-offs, delivery drivers, parking lot crashes, driveway exits, valet zones, hotel and restaurant areas, bus collisions, hit-and-run drivers, uninsured drivers, unsafe road conditions, and fatal pedestrian accidents.
Pedestrians have no protection against the weight of a vehicle. Common injuries include traumatic brain injuries, concussions, skull fractures, spinal injuries, herniated discs, broken legs, hip fractures, pelvis fractures, knee and shoulder injuries, internal injuries, facial injuries, dental trauma, nerve damage, torn ligaments, burns, scarring, chronic pain, psychological trauma, and the need for surgery or long-term care.
California Vehicle Code section 21950 requires drivers to yield to pedestrians within marked or unmarked crosswalks at intersections. Drivers also must use due care, reduce speed when necessary, and avoid endangering pedestrians. Other traffic laws may matter too, including rules on unsafe turns, speeding, distracted driving, red lights, stop signs, yielding, and driving under the influence.
The defense may argue that a pedestrian crossed outside a marked crosswalk, looked at a phone, wore dark clothing, or moved suddenly. Those arguments do not automatically defeat a claim. California follows pure comparative negligence under Civil Code section 1714. An injured pedestrian can still recover compensation even if the defense claims partial fault, although recovery can be reduced by the percentage of fault assigned.
Many pedestrian crashes also involve more than one responsible party. Depending on the facts, a claim may involve a driver, vehicle owner, employer, delivery company, rideshare company, public entity, property owner, construction contractor, maintenance contractor, or uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
Pedestrian accident evidence can disappear quickly. We work to preserve and obtain:
Preservation letters can be especially important when a hotel, restaurant, rideshare company, delivery platform, bus operator, apartment building, parking structure, or public entity may have video or records that prove what happened.
Pedestrians injured in Santa Monica may receive emergency or specialty care at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, or nearby orthopedic, neurology, trauma, plastic surgery, pain management, imaging, and rehabilitation providers. Serious pedestrian injuries can affect walking, work, sleep, family responsibilities, transportation, independence, and quality of life.
Recoverable damages may include ambulance bills, emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, diagnostic imaging, physical therapy, future medical care, medication, assistive devices, home modifications, lost income, reduced earning capacity, out-of-pocket expenses, pain, suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement, disability, and loss of enjoyment of life. In fatal cases, surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim.
The usual statute of limitations for a California personal injury case is two years from the date of injury. A much shorter six-month government claim deadline may apply if a public entity contributed to the crash. That can include a City of Santa Monica vehicle, Big Blue Bus, Metro, Caltrans, a dangerous roadway condition, unsafe signal timing, missing signage, poor lighting, construction hazards, or hazardous public property.
Deadline analysis should happen early. Waiting can make it harder to recover video, inspect the location, identify witnesses, and preserve claims against every responsible party.
We begin by investigating liability, preserving evidence, and identifying every available insurance policy. We do not accept the driver’s first version of events as the whole story. Instead, we compare the statement to the physical evidence, video, roadway design, witness accounts, police report, medical records, and the rules that applied to the driver.
We then build the damages side of the claim. Pedestrian injuries are often serious, and the full impact may not be clear in the first few weeks. We work to document the medical course, future care, lost earnings, reduced capacity, pain, permanent limitations, scarring, disability, and day-to-day effects before negotiating with the insurance company or litigating the case.
Our firm handles pedestrian and serious injury cases throughout Los Angeles County. Depending on where the crash happened or who was involved, these related pages may help: Santa Monica Personal Injury Lawyer, Santa Monica Car Accident Lawyer, Santa Monica Truck Accident Lawyer, Santa Monica Motorcycle Accident Lawyer, Los Angeles Pedestrian Accident Lawyer, and Beverly Hills Pedestrian Accident Lawyer.
There is no upfront fee. Our firm handles pedestrian accident cases on a contingency fee, which means we are paid only if we recover compensation for you.
You may still have a claim. California comparative fault rules allow recovery even when the defense argues partial fault. The key issues include driver speed, visibility, lookout, roadway design, lighting, signals, and whether the driver had time to avoid the crash.
Hit-and-run pedestrian cases require quick investigation. We look for video, witnesses, vehicle debris, police leads, nearby cameras, and uninsured motorist coverage that may apply through your own household policy.
Sometimes. If an Uber, Lyft, delivery driver, courier, or commercial vehicle hit you, app status, employment status, insurance coverage, and company records may affect the claim. Those records should be preserved quickly.
Most California personal injury claims have a two-year statute of limitations, but a six-month government claim deadline may apply if a public vehicle, public property, or dangerous roadway condition contributed to the crash. Get deadline advice early.
If you or someone you love was injured in a Santa Monica pedestrian accident, contact the Law Offices of Asher Hoffman for a free consultation. We investigate quickly, preserve evidence, identify all responsible parties, and pursue the full compensation available under California law. There is no fee unless we win.
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My boyfriend and I were getting the runaround from an at-fault driver and their insurance after my very first car accident in Los Angeles back in February, so I decided to find a lawyer to help us out with the process. Working with Asher Hoffman made all the difference. He was communicative, patient, and always […]
Asher is absolutely amazing! After my car accident, I was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do, but he made the whole process so much easier. He’s very attentive, caring, and really goes above and beyond for his clients. I always felt supported and confident knowing he was handling my case. He not only got […]
I hope you never need a lawyer due to a car accident, but if you do, Asher Hoffman is the best! I had never been in a car accident this serious before and was rattled, stressed, and scared to say the least, suffering injuries and the total loss of my car. From our first meeting […]
I am so grateful to have had Asher Hoffman as my accident attorney. From the very beginning, he was professional, compassionate, and dedicated to my case. Asher always took the time to explain every step of the process in a way that was easy to understand, and he made sure I felt supported throughout. His […]
