Car Accident

A car wreck on Canyon Crest Drive, on Central Avenue, or on the I-215 is still a California civil claim. Fault is measured in shares, so a person who was hurt can still seek damages even if that person also made a mistake, though the recovery is reduced by that share. Civil Code section 1431.2 addresses several liability for non-economic damages. An ordinary injury or death lawsuit generally must be started within two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.

Ask the responding department for its official crash report, and send an SR-1 when Vehicle Code section 16000 requires it. A policy first written or renewed on January 1, 2025 or later, should carry at least the 30/60/15 floor in Vehicle Code section 16056. An older policy may still show 15/30/5 until it renews. If a government vehicle or a street-defect theory is part of the story, a six-month written claim can also be due.

The longer discussions are in the shared-fault guide, the two-year-clock guide, and the first-week guide. If the wreck happened in Riverside County, a later filing is often a Riverside Superior Court matter, subject to the current assignment order.