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Gammill Law’s results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict.
Reviewed by David Gammill, California trial attorney · Last reviewed: September 12, 2026
Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers represents pedestrians hit by cars in Torrance and across the South Bay. If a driver struck you or someone you love while you were walking, California law is strongly on your side: drivers owe every pedestrian a duty of care, even a pedestrian who was outside a crosswalk. The firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients across verdicts and settlements. Its results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict; every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. What matters for your case is this: pedestrian claims are almost always injury-heavy and coverage-light, and the difference between a fair recovery and a fraction of one is finding every policy that applies and proving fault before the driver’s insurer rewrites the story.
Hit by a car while walking? Get your free case evaluation or call 310-750-4149. There is no fee unless we recover for you.
Torrance’s 2023 crash data includes 43 pedestrians killed or injured, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s crash rankings for Torrance, built from SWITRS, the state’s official collision database. Eight of those pedestrians were children under 15, which ranked Torrance 5th worst among the 62 California cities in its population group that year, and nine were 65 or older. Those crashes happen where people actually walk: the retail corridors along Hawthorne Boulevard and Torrance Boulevard, the crossings near Del Amo Fashion Center, the streets around Torrance Memorial and the Torrance Unified schools, and the wide, fast arterials like Sepulveda, Crenshaw, and Pacific Coast Highway where a legal crossing can still be a long walk across many lanes.
A car protects its occupants with a steel frame, airbags, and seat belts. A pedestrian has none of that. The same collision that leaves a driver shaken leaves a pedestrian with fractures, head injuries, spinal injuries, or worse. That physics is why pedestrian cases are rarely small, and why the insurer on the other side starts looking for a reason to blame the person who was walking within hours of the crash.
The city knows its school routes need work. Through the Measure M Subregional Program, Torrance secured $7,185,000 to repair sidewalks, upgrade curb ramps and crosswalks, improve pedestrian signals, and add bike facilities in the neighborhoods around six of its elementary schools, part of its School Safety and Accessibility Program. A documented, known hazard on a public walking route can matter to a pedestrian case, because a dangerous condition of public property is a claim of its own.
In a crosswalk, marked or unmarked, the driver must yield. California’s pedestrian right-of-way law requires a driver to yield to a pedestrian crossing in a marked crosswalk, or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, and to slow down and take reasonable care for the pedestrian’s safety. Most people do not realize that an intersection without painted lines still has legal crosswalks. Our plain-English guide to Vehicle Code § 21950, California’s pedestrian right-of-way law, explains the rule and the exceptions.
Outside a crosswalk, the driver still owes you due care. Under Vehicle Code § 21954, a pedestrian crossing a roadway somewhere other than a crosswalk must yield to vehicles close enough to be an immediate hazard. Insurers quote that sentence constantly. They quote the next one far less often: the same section says it does not relieve a driver of the duty to exercise due care for the safety of any pedestrian on the roadway. A driver who was speeding, texting, or simply not looking does not get a free pass because the person they hit was mid-block.
Partial fault does not bar your claim. California follows pure comparative negligence (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804): if a jury finds you partly at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage, never eliminated. Insurers push the pedestrian’s percentage as high as they can for exactly this reason. We push it back down with evidence.
California requires drivers to carry only minimum liability coverage of $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage (Vehicle Code § 16451, for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025). A single ambulance ride, an emergency room visit, and one surgery can pass that limit before the first physical therapy appointment.
That is why a pedestrian case is really a search for coverage. The at-fault driver’s policy comes first. If the driver was working, an employer’s commercial policy may apply. If the driver was borrowing the car, the owner’s policy may apply. And here is the part most pedestrians never hear from an adjuster: your own auto insurance can pay you even though you were on foot. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your policy, or on a policy in your household, generally follows you as a person, not just your car. When the driver has no insurance or too little of it, that coverage can be the largest source of recovery in the case. Our Torrance car accident attorney page walks through how those layers stack.
When the street itself contributed, a claim against the public entity may be available too. A crosswalk with a burned-out signal, a missing or obstructed crossing sign, an unlit intersection, or a crosswalk placed where sight lines make it a trap can be a dangerous condition of public property under Government Code § 835. Our guide to dangerous roads and intersections in Torrance covers when the road is part of the case.
Pedestrians are hit by fleeing drivers more often than anyone would like to believe. If the driver is never identified, your own uninsured motorist coverage usually pays, but Insurance Code § 11580.2 attaches strict conditions: the crash generally must be reported to police within 24 hours, and a sworn statement must be filed with your insurer within 30 days. Miss those and the coverage can be lost. Start with our Torrance hit-and-run lawyer page, and see our guide to Vehicle Code § 20001, California’s hit-and-run law, which explains what the fleeing driver faces and what victims can do.
Two years for most claims. Under CCP § 335.1, most California injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the crash. Our guide to CCP § 335.1, California’s two-year statute of limitations, covers the rule and its exceptions.
Six months when the government is involved. If a City of Torrance vehicle, a Torrance Transit bus, a school district vehicle, or a dangerous public crosswalk or intersection is part of the case, you must present a written claim to the right entity within six months before you can sue. Our guide to the California government claim deadline walks through the sequence. Pedestrian cases trip this deadline more than any other, because the road-design claim is often discovered only after the driver’s policy proves too small.
Short reporting windows apply too. A crash with injury or death must be reported in writing to the police or CHP within 24 hours (Vehicle Code § 20008). If you were struck and taken to the hospital, we handle the reporting as part of the case.
Pedestrian cases turn on seconds and feet: where you were, where the car was, how fast it was moving, and whether the driver was looking. The evidence that answers those questions disappears fast. Storefront and doorbell cameras along Hawthorne and Torrance Boulevard overwrite footage within days. Torrance Transit buses carry cameras that capture crosswalks on their routes. The car itself records speed and braking in its event data recorder, and that data is lost the moment the vehicle is repaired or sold. We send preservation demands the same day we are retained, and in serious cases we bring in accident reconstruction to turn skid marks, damage patterns, and the point of impact into a physics-based account of what happened.
The police report matters, but it is a starting point, not a verdict. Officers arrive after the crash, they often speak only to the driver because the pedestrian is in an ambulance, and their fault conclusions can be wrong or incomplete. When a report blames the pedestrian, we build the proof independently.
When a pedestrian crash takes a life, the case changes in kind, not just in degree. California gives specific family members the right to bring a wrongful death claim for their own losses, including lost financial support and the loss of companionship, and the deadlines have traps of their own. Our Torrance wrongful death attorney page explains how we handle these cases, and our complete guide to the California wrongful death filing deadline covers the timing rules. We handle these cases with the care they demand, and the consultation is free.
If you were on a bicycle rather than on foot, our Torrance bicycle accident lawyer page covers the three-foot rule and the helmet question. Riders hit on a motorcycle, and people hit by an Uber or Lyft, have their own pages: our Torrance motorcycle accident lawyer and Torrance Uber and Lyft accident lawyer pages. When injuries are permanent, our Torrance catastrophic injury lawyer page explains how those cases are built.
Trial reputation is leverage in every negotiation. The firm’s results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict and a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, each a real jury verdict in a specific case; outcomes always depend on the facts. Insurers price a claim differently when they know the lawyer on the other side will finish the fight in front of a jury.
We work on a contingency fee: nothing upfront, no hourly bills, and a fee only out of the recovery, under a written contingency fee agreement that complies with California law. Our guide to what a personal injury lawyer costs in Torrance answers the money questions plainly.
Call any time, including nights, weekends, and holidays: 310-750-4149. If you need treatment now, we connect clients with respected Torrance-area doctors who work on a lien basis, meaning they are paid from the recovery, not upfront. If you cannot travel, we come to you: the hospital, your home, or wherever your recovery requires.
Economic damages cover documented losses: emergency care, hospital stays, surgery, therapy, medications, future treatment, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity. Pedestrian injuries often carry long recoveries and lasting limits, so future care is a major part of the claim.
Non-economic damages cover the human losses: physical pain, emotional distress, fear of crossing a street again, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent disability or disfigurement, and, for spouses, loss of consortium.
Punitive damages may be available where the driver’s conduct was malicious, oppressive, or fraudulent under Civil Code § 3294, most commonly when the driver was drunk.
Early offers routinely reflect only a fraction of a claim’s documented value, and in pedestrian cases the first offer often arrives while you are still in the hospital. Before you sign anything, use the free case evaluation to learn what your claim is actually worth.
Usually, yes. Vehicle Code § 21954 requires a pedestrian outside a crosswalk to yield to traffic that is an immediate hazard, but the same section says the driver still owes a duty of due care. If the driver was speeding, distracted, or not looking, fault can be shared or fall mostly on the driver. Under California’s comparative negligence rule, your share of fault reduces your recovery; it does not eliminate it.
No. That is the driver’s policy limit, not your claim’s value. Other policies may apply, including an employer’s or vehicle owner’s coverage, and your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage can pay you even though you were on foot. Where a dangerous crosswalk or intersection contributed, a government claim may add another source. Finding every layer is the core of the work.
Two years from the date of the crash for most claims, under CCP § 335.1. If a government vehicle or a dangerous public street or crosswalk is involved, a written claim is due within six months under Gov. Code § 911.2; see our government claim guide. Courts rarely excuse a missed deadline.
No. A police report is one officer’s early conclusion, often formed without hearing from the pedestrian at all. Camera footage, vehicle data, witness statements, and reconstruction regularly tell a different story. We build the proof independently and let the evidence decide fault.
We connect clients with Torrance-area doctors who treat on a lien, meaning they are paid from the recovery rather than upfront. Getting evaluated promptly protects your health and documents your injuries while the evidence is fresh.
Nothing upfront and nothing out of pocket. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, collected only if we win, under a written agreement that complies with California law. Full details: what a personal injury lawyer costs in Torrance.
Storefront cameras overwrite within days. Bus footage is retained for a limited window. The car gets repaired, and its data goes with it. The sooner we start, the more of your case we can preserve, and the filing deadlines run whether or not you are ready.
You were doing the most ordinary thing in the world, and a driver failed to do theirs. You should not have to negotiate with an insurance adjuster from a hospital bed. Your free case review includes a real evaluation with an experienced attorney, a clear explanation of your options, and an honest assessment of what your claim is worth. No obligation, and everything you share is confidential. If your case is a different kind of injury claim, start at our Torrance personal injury attorney page.
Get your free case evaluation or call 310-750-4149 now. There are no upfront legal fees; a fee is collected only if we win.
This page is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice for any specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes are fact-specific; consult a licensed California attorney about your own circumstances. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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Left with few options
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My name is David Gammill. I am a California trial lawyer and the founder of Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers. Our firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients. Our results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict. I learned to try cases in front of juries early in my career as a Deputy District Attorney, and trying cases remains the backbone of my practice.
