Pasadena Car Accident Lawyer

Pasadena's grid mixes commuter traffic with destination traffic. Colorado Blvd carries drivers through Old Pasadena and the Playhouse District; Lake Ave runs the length of the city and feeds the freeway ramps; Foothill Blvd carries eastbound traffic toward Altadena and Arcadia.

The freeway endings concentrate merging conflicts: the 710's northern terminus at California Blvd and the 134's junction with the 210 both push drivers onto surface streets. Left-turn and lane-change collisions cluster at those transitions, and the investigating agency — Pasadena Police or CHP — depends on which side of the boundary the crash occurred.

Report the collision. Vehicle Code § 20008 requires a written report of any injury collision to the investigating agency within 24 hours if police did not take one at the scene, and Vehicle Code § 16000 requires an SR-1 to the DMV within 10 days when anyone is injured or property damage exceeds $1,000.

Get evaluated even if you feel able to walk away. Huntington Hospital, 100 W. California Blvd, is the city's hospital with a full emergency department, and a same-week record of your symptoms is the single most useful document in a soft-tissue claim.

Preserve the video. We send preservation letters to the businesses and buildings along the corridor while the footage still exists.

The Pasadena Police report records what the officer saw the day of the crash, but the claim is built from evidence that follows: damage photographs, the other driver's phone records where distraction is suspected, and camera footage from the storefronts along Colorado, Lake and Foothill. We build from the report outward.

If a public entity may be responsible — a city vehicle, an ARTS bus, a signal or a roadway condition — the claim runs against the City of Pasadena, and Government Code § 911.2 generally requires a written claim within six months.