Primary Location
Torrance Personal Injury Lawyers
2916 W 164th St Second Floor, Torrance, CA 90504
Phone: (424) 622-0812
Call us at (855) 855-8910
Call us at (855) 855-8910
Hurt in a motorcycle crash anywhere in the Los Angeles area? The Simon Law Group represents injured riders and their families across the metro, from the South Bay to the Valley. Free case review. No fees or costs unless we win.
A member of our intake team will reach out shortly. To speak with someone now, call (855) 855-8910.
Los Angeles has some of the worst traffic in the country, and a motorcycle case here is not a car case with two fewer wheels. Insurers come in assuming the rider was reckless, and they fight harder to pay less. The Simon Law Group is a Los Angeles trial firm, based in Torrance, that has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for injured Californians, and we take serious motorcycle cases across the entire metro, not just one neighborhood. Our attorneys recently secured an $845,000 jury verdict for a rider in a left-turn collision where the other side disputed fault.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
In most Los Angeles motorcycle crashes that involve another vehicle, the other driver is at fault, not the rider. The classic one is a driver turning left across a rider’s path. Drivers also change lanes into riders they never checked for, follow too closely, or open a door into a lane. Speeding and impaired driving make all of it worse.
Los Angeles adds its own risk, and the danger zones are specific. Riders split lanes through stop-and-go traffic on the 405 over the Sepulveda Pass and on the 110, whose 1940s-era on-ramps give almost no room to merge. Canyon roads pull weekend riders into blind curves: Angeles Crest Highway, Mulholland, and the Malibu run that riders call The Snake. The PCH mixes cross-traffic and driveways right through the South Bay and Malibu. And we ride year round, so there are more bikes on the road more months of the year.
The cost is real. California lost 583 motorcyclists in 2023, according to state and federal traffic data [4]. Los Angeles County alone accounted for 125 of those deaths, more than any other county in the state and more than double second-place San Diego [5]. Knowing the common crash patterns helps prove what really happened, and who is responsible.
California law gives injured riders three real advantages. Lane splitting is allowed here. Not wearing a perfect set of gear does not end your claim. And you can recover money even if you were partly at fault.
California was the first state to formally recognize lane splitting, and its law is still the most permissive in the country. Riders here can move between lanes of slow-moving as well as stopped traffic, with no speed cap written into the law, under Vehicle Code 21658.1 [1]. Several other states, including Utah, Arizona, Montana, and Colorado, have since allowed a narrower practice called lane filtering, which is limited to stopped traffic at low speed. A rider still has to ride safely, and the California Highway Patrol publishes safety tips for doing it [2]. When a driver blocks, swerves at, or doors a splitting rider, that driver can be on the hook. On an LA freeway at rush hour, that scenario is not rare.
California requires every rider and passenger to wear a DOT-approved helmet under Vehicle Code 27803 [3]. Picture a rider going down on the PCH in a half-helmet. The other driver’s insurer will point to that gear to shift the blame. They can argue it, but in California it does not erase your right to recover for the crash the driver caused.
You can recover even if you were mostly at fault, with your award reduced by your share of the blame. Say a driver clips you while you split stalled traffic on the 405. The insurer may try to assign you part of the fault for splitting, but even a rider found 30 percent at fault still collects 70 percent of the damages. That matters, because insurers love to blame the rider. Our attorneys won an $845,000 verdict in a disputed-fault left-turn case, which shows a fault fight is not the end of the road.
There is no honest “average” settlement, because no two crashes are the same. Value comes from the harm you suffered, who was at fault, and how much insurance coverage exists. Serious motorcycle injuries push value up, because riders get hurt worse than people in cars. Venue matters as well, because a case tried before an LA County jury can carry a different value than the same crash filed elsewhere.
A full claim usually covers several types of loss:
The hidden problem is coverage. California requires drivers to carry only $30,000 in bodily injury coverage per person, raised from $15,000 on January 1, 2025 [6]. That still barely touches a single surgery, and about one in five California drivers carries no insurance at all [7]. When the at-fault driver has too little, we look at your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, the other driver’s umbrella policy, and any commercial policy in play. In one case our attorneys pushed past those limits and secured double the policy money for a rider with multiple fractures, even though he had prior crashes and a record.
The steps you take early can decide your case later. Here is what we tell riders to do at the scene and after.
Time is the other risk. In California you generally have two years from the crash to file an injury lawsuit. If a Metro bus, a city or county vehicle, or a dangerous road defect played a role, you may have just six months to file a claim notice. Those clocks are shorter than people expect, so talk to a lawyer early. You can start with a free case review.
Most Los Angeles injury lawsuits are filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Since January 2024, injury cases in the court’s Central District are assigned to independent calendar courtrooms at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles [8]. Your lawyer handles the filing, the venue, and every court deadline, so you do not have to learn the system while you heal.
Where you were treated matters too. Riders hurt badly enough for a trauma team are usually taken to a Level I center: LA General Medical Center, formerly LAC+USC, near downtown, Harbor-UCLA in the South Bay, or Ronald Reagan UCLA in Westwood [9]. Those hospital records become the backbone of the case, so we request them early and read them line by line. The gap between what a bill says today and what an injury will cost for life is where a serious case is won.
Some motorcycle cases need a different game plan. When the at-fault driver runs or has no insurance, your own uninsured motorist coverage can step in and pay for your injuries. In a city with as many uninsured drivers as Los Angeles, that coverage is often the difference between a real recovery and nothing.
Passengers have rights too. A hurt passenger can usually claim against the at-fault driver, and sometimes against the rider’s policy as well. We sort out which policies apply so the passenger is not left out.
The hardest cases are the fatal ones. When a family loses a rider, a wrongful death claim can cover funeral costs, lost income, and the loss of that person in the family’s life. Our attorneys secured a $5 million settlement for the family of a 24-year-old rider who was killed and left dependents behind. No amount fixes that loss. The right result can protect the people left behind.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
We treat clients like family, we answer the phone day or night, and you work with real attorneys, not just staff. Our firm was built after a drunk driver hurt a member of our own family, and a good lawyer helped that person rebuild. That is still why we do this.
The firm was founded by brothers Robert and Brad Simon. Robert, our founding trial partner, is admitted in California and Arizona. He is a multiple-time Trial Lawyer of the Year voted by his peers, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and Pepperdine School of Law’s Alumnus of the Year. He also serves on the board of Consumer Attorneys of California. Brad Simon, our co-founder, has been named to Super Lawyers every year from 2014 to 2023 and is admitted before the United States Supreme Court. When a case has to be tried, that trial reputation moves the settlement number.
Results we have achieved for riders include:
Our main office is in Torrance, in the South Bay, and we represent riders across the whole metro. Wherever you went down, you can reach a local team through our Torrance motorcycle accident lawyer, Redondo Beach motorcycle accident lawyer, Canoga Park motorcycle accident lawyer, and Venice motorcycle accident lawyer pages. If your case reaches across California, our California motorcycle accident lawyer team covers the whole state. Wherever you ride, your case gets the full firm.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Sources:
[1] California Vehicle Code 21658.1 (lane splitting)
[2] California Motorcyclist Safety Program, California Highway Patrol
[3] California Vehicle Code 27803 (helmet requirement)
[4] Motorcycle fatality data, California Office of Traffic Safety
[6] Senate Bill 1107 (2022), California minimum liability insurance limits, effective January 1, 2025
[7] Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists, Insurance Research Council
Nothing up front. The Simon Law Group works on contingency, so you pay no fees or costs unless we win your case. The first consultation is free, and the fee comes out of the recovery, not your pocket.
In most multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes, the other driver is at fault, not the rider. Around Los Angeles that usually means a left turn across a rider at a busy surface intersection, or a distracted lane change while a rider splits stopped freeway traffic. Even if you were partly to blame, California’s pure comparative negligence rule still lets you recover, with your award reduced by your share of the fault.
You generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in California. If a government entity was involved, such as an LA Metro bus, a city or county vehicle, or a dangerous public road, you may have only six months to file a claim notice. Talk to a lawyer early so a deadline does not end your case.
There is no true average, and anyone who quotes one is guessing. Value depends on your injuries, who was at fault, and how much insurance coverage exists. In Los Angeles, where many drivers carry only the state minimum, we often build value through your own underinsured coverage and any commercial or umbrella policy in play.
Often, yes. California requires a DOT-approved helmet under Vehicle Code 27803, and the other driver’s insurer will try to use gear against you. But California uses pure comparative negligence, so your recovery may be reduced, not barred.
You may still have a path to recovery. Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can pay for your injuries when the at-fault driver runs or carries too little insurance. About one in five California drivers carries no insurance at all, so we review every policy that could apply to your crash.
Most LA injury lawsuits are filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Since January 2024, Central District injury cases are handled by independent calendar courtrooms at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown. Your lawyer manages the filing and every court deadline for you.
Call (855) 855-8910 or fill out our form. No fee unless we win.
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