Car accident claims in California

A car accident claim is a negligence claim, and the parts that are the same for every injury claim — duty, breach, causation, damages, comparative fault, how a claim moves from treatment to demand to lawsuit, and how to handle an adjuster or a recorded-statement request — are covered on the claims process. This page covers what is specific to a crash between passenger vehicles.

It is general information, not legal advice, and it does not tell you whether you have a case.

California is an at-fault state

California is not a no-fault state. After a crash, the injured person's claim is against the driver who caused it and that driver's liability insurer, and the amount recovered depends on proving that driver was at fault. Your own collision coverage can repair your car regardless of fault, and medical payments coverage can pay early bills, but the injury claim itself rises or falls on fault and on the coverage available to pay it.

The car and the injury are separate claims

The property-damage claim — fixing or replacing your vehicle, a rental, the diminished value — moves on its own track and usually settles fast, often within weeks. The injury claim should not. Two traps come from mixing them: an adjuster may offer a single check that resolves "the whole claim," and a property-damage release may contain broad language that also gives up the injury claim. Settle the car, in writing, on a document that says property damage only, and keep the injury claim open until the medical picture is clear.

How fault is decided in a car crash

Fault is a conclusion built from evidence, and two kinds of evidence are specific to vehicle collisions.

The traffic collision report

The CHP or local police report records the officer's diagram, the drivers' and witnesses' statements, road and weather conditions, and any citation. Adjusters weigh it heavily. It is still generally not admissible at trial in California and does not bind either side, so a bad report can be worked around and a good one is not the finish line. A factual error — a reversed direction of travel, a misquoted statement — can sometimes be corrected by going back to the agency with a supplemental statement.

More: how to read a California traffic collision report · CHP collision codes.

Vehicle Code violations

When a driver breaks a Vehicle Code safety rule — the basic speed law, following too closely, running a red signal, an unsafe left turn — and that violation causes the kind of crash the rule exists to prevent, the violation can establish negligence by itself. This is "negligence per se," and it moves the argument from "were they careless" to "did they break the rule."

No Vehicle Code violation is needed, though. A driver owes a duty of reasonable care that runs alongside the traffic rules and covers the conduct the rules do not reach. The jury instruction puts it plainly: a driver must keep a lookout for pedestrians, obstacles, and other vehicles, and must control the speed and movement of the vehicle. A driver who broke no specific rule can still be negligent for failing to do those things — which is why "he had the green light" is an answer to one question, not to the case.

Sources: Evid. Code, § 669 (presumption of negligence from a statutory violation); CACI No. 418 (presumption of negligence per se), Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2026 edition); CACI No. 700 (basic standard of care in driving — the common-law duty that applies to conduct the Vehicle Code does not cover); Veh. Code, § 22350 (basic speed law); § 21703 (following too closely); § 21453 (red signal); § 21801 (left turn — yield to oncoming traffic).

How the rest of the fault picture is built — witnesses, reconstruction, admissions, comparative fault — is on comparative fault and how fault is decided.

Common collision types

The fault question turns on the geometry of the crash. Each of these has its own page:

• Rear-end collisions — the following driver is usually behind on fault because of the duty to keep a safe distance and stay alert, but a sudden unsignaled stop, brake-checking, or non-working brake lights can shift some of it.
• Left-turn accidents — the turning driver generally must yield to oncoming traffic close enough to be a hazard, unless the oncoming driver ran a red or was speeding badly enough to change the timing.
• Intersection accidents — signal phase and timing, right-of-way, obstructed sight lines, and which car entered the intersection first.
• Multi-vehicle pileups — sorting a chain reaction among several drivers and insurers, each pointing at the others, often with multiple impacts to one vehicle.
• Highway vs. surface street — speed differentials, merging and lane changes, and how a high-speed crash reconstructs compared with a city-street collision.
• Single-vehicle passenger — a passenger hurt in a one-car crash, claiming against the driver of the car they were riding in.

Distracted and impaired driving

A driver on a phone or under the influence is not automatically liable, but the conduct is powerful evidence and can support additional claims. Phone records and app-usage data, the results of any DUI investigation, dashcam and roadway footage all become part of the case. In a drunk-driving crash, a claim for punitive damages may be available where the conduct was egregious — a fact-specific question a lawyer evaluates.

More: distracted driving · DUI accident victims.

The auto-insurance picture

Almost every car accident claim is paid by an insurance company, and the coverage available sets the practical ceiling on the case. The layers that can apply:

• The other driver's liability coverage. California's required minimum liability limits rose on January 1, 2025 and are scheduled to rise again in 2035, but the minimum is still modest next to the cost of a serious injury, and many drivers carry only the minimum. When the harm exceeds it, that policy is exhausted quickly.
• Your uninsured / underinsured motorist coverage. Pays when the at-fault driver has no coverage or not enough, and in a hit-and-run. It is a first-party claim against your own insurer, with its own notice deadlines and, often, mandatory arbitration.
• Medical payments coverage (med-pay). Optional first-party coverage that pays medical bills regardless of fault, up to its limit, while the liability claim is pending.
• Other policies. An employer's policy if a driver was working, a vehicle owner's policy separate from the driver's, a commercial policy, an umbrella policy on top of a personal one.

One limit worth knowing about the owner's side. When an owner is on the hook only because they lent the car — not because of anything the owner themselves did wrong — the Vehicle Code caps that borrowed-liability exposure, and it also bars punitive damages against the owner based on the driver's conduct. The caps were set in the 1960s and have never been raised, so they now sit well below what a serious injury costs and well below the minimum coverage a policy has to carry. Two things the cap does not touch: the driver's own liability, which is uncapped, and the owner's liability for the owner's own negligence, such as handing the keys to someone they knew should not be driving. That last claim is often the one that matters.

Sources: Veh. Code, § 16056 (financial responsibility amounts, as amended by Senate Bill 1107); Ins. Code, § 11580.2 (uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage); Veh. Code, § 17150 (owner liability for a permissive user); § 17151 (subd. (a) caps that vicarious liability; subd. (b) bars punitive damages against the owner for the operator's conduct).

More: hit-and-run · uninsured motorist claims · underinsured motorist claims · why coverage limits decide cases.

When someone besides the other driver is responsible

Finding an additional defendant can be the difference between a claim with no coverage and a claim with real coverage behind it:

• An employer, when the at-fault driver was working or running an errand for a business.
• A government agency, when a poorly designed intersection, a missing sign, an overgrown sight line, a broken signal, or a pothole contributed to the crash. This is a dangerous-condition-of-public-property claim.
• A vehicle or parts manufacturer, when a tire, brake, airbag, or other defect caused or worsened the crash.
• A commercial carrier, if a truck or a rideshare vehicle was involved — those have their own rules and their own pages.

Sources: Gov. Code, § 835 (liability for a dangerous condition of public property); CACI No. 430 (causation: substantial factor) and CACI No. 431 (causation: multiple causes), Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2026 edition).

More: truck and commercial vehicle claims · Uber and Lyft accident claims.

Injuries in a car crash

Common crash injuries range from soft-tissue strains and concussions to fractures, disc injuries, and traumatic brain injury. How the injury is documented and connected to the crash is a claims-process question — the role of the treating record, gaps in treatment, and pre-existing conditions is covered on those pages. The injury pages cover each injury type.

More: how gaps in treatment affect a claim · pre-existing conditions and your claim · injuries.

Deadlines

For an injury claim from an ordinary crash, the deadline to file suit is generally two years from the collision. A government vehicle or a dangerous road condition shortens that to a six-month written claim to the agency, on a much tighter clock (see the note above). A claim on behalf of an injured child follows different timing rules. Confirm the deadline that applies to you early — the general rules are on statute of limitations.

Sources: Code Civ. Proc., § 335.1; Gov. Code, § 911.2; Gov. Code, § 945.6.

What to do after a crash

• Get medical attention promptly, even if you think it is minor.
• Photograph the vehicles, the scene, the other driver's insurance card and license.
• Get names and numbers for any independent witnesses.
• Note nearby cameras — businesses, doorbells, traffic signals.
• Report the crash to your own insurer, and file the DMV SR-1 if it applies.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer or sign a release before getting advice — see recorded statements.
• Write down what happened in your own words while it is fresh.
• Confirm your filing deadline, and flag any possible government role.

More: what to do after a car accident.

Common questions

How is fault decided in a California car accident?

From the evidence: the traffic collision report, any citation, the physical damage and scene, independent witnesses, camera footage, and any Vehicle Code violation. A report is persuasive to an adjuster but is generally not admissible at trial and does not bind anyone.

The other driver was cited by police. Does that decide fault?

No, but it helps. A citation for a violation that caused the crash supports a negligence-per-se argument. The absence of a citation, or a citation against you, is not the end of the analysis either.

Do I have to report the crash to the DMV?

California requires a report to the DMV (form SR-1) within 10 days of a crash involving injury, death, or property damage above the state threshold, in addition to any police report. This is separate from the insurance claim.

What if the other driver had no insurance or too little?

Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may apply (Ins. Code, § 11580.2), and it also covers a hit-and-run. Whether you have it, and how much, is often the deciding factor. Check your declarations page.

How long do I have to file a car accident claim in California?

Generally two years from the crash (Code Civ. Proc., § 335.1). If a government vehicle or a dangerous road condition contributed, a written claim is due to the agency within six months (Gov. Code, § 911.2). Confirm the deadline that applies to you right away.