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Reviewed by David Gammill, California trial attorney · Last reviewed: September 24, 2026
If you were hurt in a car crash in Inglewood that another driver caused, California law lets you recover your medical bills, lost income, vehicle damage, and pain and suffering, and it puts a deadline on doing it. Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers is a South Bay trial firm that represents injured drivers, passengers, and families in Inglewood and across the South Bay. 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.
Inglewood packs heavy traffic into a small footprint, and the crashes follow the volume. The city sits against the 405 freeway on the west and the 105 along its southern edge, and its arterials carry the load between them: Century, Manchester, Crenshaw, La Brea, La Cienega, Prairie, Florence, Imperial Highway, and Centinela. The 2022 environmental assessment for the Inglewood Transit Connector measured roughly 33,000 to 50,500 vehicles a day on Century Boulevard, 21,800 to 37,250 on Prairie Avenue, and 18,800 to 36,400 on Manchester Boulevard. The City points to its sports and entertainment district along the Prairie and Century corridor, home to SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome, the Kia Forum, and Hollywood Park, as a major driver of that traffic. That does not make any one place responsible for a crash.
The state’s numbers describe the result. In 2023, the most recent year in the rankings, traffic collisions in Inglewood killed or injured 634 people, the fifth-highest count among the 62 California cities in its population group. The count was 514 in 2019, 562 in 2021, and 480 in 2022, so the 2023 figure reads as a single-year spike rather than a steady climb. The same rankings put Inglewood third of 62 for speed-related injury crashes, with 105. They put the city first of 62 for nighttime crashes, with 80. They put it second of 62 for hit-and-run crashes, with 84. A driver who leaves the scene of an injury crash commits a felony under Vehicle Code § 20001, and a legal speed can still be an unsafe speed under the basic speed law, Vehicle Code § 22350. Inglewood has also been among the worst cities in its group for pedestrians, with 73 pedestrian victims in 2021 ranking first of 60 cities and 63 in 2023 ranking second of 62; drivers must yield to people in marked and unmarked crosswalks under Vehicle Code § 21950. The City’s own traffic-safety grant reported that speed was the primary factor in 305 injury crashes in Inglewood in 2023.
Inglewood runs its own municipal police department with a dedicated Traffic Unit, so a crash on a city street is usually handled by Inglewood officers, and their report becomes the first document every insurer reads. The Inglewood Police Department’s Traffic Unit says it investigates more than 5,000 collisions a year on the city’s streets. When a public roadway is part of the story, the record matters: Caltrans approved about $2.81 million in Highway Safety Improvement Program work in Inglewood in 2018, including raised medians on Centinela Avenue, signal upgrades at La Brea and Prairie, and pedestrian countdown heads, and Government Code § 835 governs when a dangerous condition of public property can support a claim.
Call 911 and get medical care first, even if you feel fine; adrenaline masks injuries for hours. A crash on an Inglewood city street will usually be handled by Inglewood police, so get the report number before you leave the scene. Photograph the vehicles, the intersection, the signals, and any skid marks or debris. Get the other driver’s license, insurance card, and plate, and the names and numbers of witnesses. Say nothing about fault to anyone, and do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer before you have spoken with a lawyer. Our step-by-step guide on what to do after a crash covers the first 72 hours in detail. And download our free guide, Crash Course: A California Car Accident Guide (2026), to keep every deadline and first step in one place.
If the other driver left, report it to Inglewood police right away and get medical care. A prompt police report is a condition of most uninsured motorist claims, and Inglewood’s hit-and-run numbers make this a real risk here.
Most California car accident claims must be filed within two years. Under CCP § 335.1, the clock starts the day of the crash, and courts rarely excuse a missed deadline. Our plain-English guide to CCP § 335.1, California’s two-year statute of limitations, covers the rule and its narrow exceptions.
Government cases move much faster. If a city vehicle, a malfunctioning signal, or a dangerous stretch of road played a role, Government Code § 911.2 requires a written claim to the right public entity within six months, before any lawsuit. In Inglewood that entity is usually the City of Inglewood itself for city streets, signals, and Inglewood police vehicles; the 405 and the 105 are state freeways maintained by Caltrans. Our guide to the California government claim deadline walks through the sequence. We identify the correct entity and file on time.
Where the case is heard. Most Inglewood car accident lawsuits are filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Southwest District, at either the Torrance Courthouse or the Inglewood Courthouse. We confirm the right courthouse for where your crash happened and file there before the deadline runs.
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 emergency room visit can exceed the per-person minimum. The real work in an Inglewood car accident case is finding every source of coverage that legally applies: the at-fault driver’s policy, an employer’s policy if that driver was working, a rideshare company’s policy if the trip was on the app, and your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. With 84 hit-and-run injury crashes in 2023, Inglewood victims lean on their own uninsured motorist coverage more often than most, and strict conditions apply, so get advice early. If an Uber or Lyft vehicle was involved, our Uber and Lyft accident page explains how those policies layer.
California is a fault state: the driver who caused the crash, and that driver’s insurer, pay for the harm. Fault is proven with the police report, the physical evidence, the vehicles, witness accounts, and, increasingly, video from intersection cameras, businesses, and dashcams that is overwritten within days if no one asks for it. Partial fault does not bar your claim. California follows a pure comparative negligence rule: your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, never eliminated by it. Insurers exaggerate your share for exactly that reason, and we push back with evidence. Where a drunk or grossly reckless driver caused the harm, punitive damages may be available on clear and convincing proof under Civil Code § 3294; Inglewood recorded 23 alcohol-involved crash victims in 2023, according to the Office of Traffic Safety. Our Torrance car accident attorney page explains how we build and prove crash cases across the South Bay.
California law allows injured people to recover economic damages, meaning the losses that carry a dollar figure: emergency care, surgery, therapy, medications, future treatment, lost income, and vehicle repair or replacement, and non-economic damages, meaning the human losses: pain, anxiety, lost sleep, and the activities an injury takes away. When a crash takes a life, the family’s claim is a wrongful death claim with its own rules; our wrongful death page explains them.
Our office is in Torrance, on Del Amo Boulevard, and our attorneys bring more than 40 years of combined legal experience to every case we take. We prepare every case for trial from the first meeting, because insurers price a claim differently when the lawyer across the table 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.
Injured and unable to travel? We meet clients at the hospital, at home, or wherever recovery requires, and we can meet by phone or Zoom. Call 310-750-4149 any time, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
Start with trial experience, because the value an insurer puts on your car accident claim depends on whether your lawyer is ready to try the case. David Gammill has tried over 100 cases to verdict. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Before that, he spent seven years as a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, so he knows how the other side prepares. Two practical questions cut through the rest: will the lawyer who signs you up be the one who handles your case, and can the firm point to real results in cases like yours? The firm’s record is set out above.
Two years from the date of the crash for most claims, under CCP § 335.1. If a public entity is involved, such as the City of Inglewood or Caltrans, a written claim is due within six months under Gov. Code § 911.2, and that shorter deadline controls.
Often, yes. Report it to Inglewood police right away and get medical care; your own uninsured motorist coverage usually pays when the driver is never found, but a prompt police report is typically required. Hit-and-run crashes are a recurring problem in Inglewood, as the numbers above show, and we know how to work these claims, including the search for camera footage before it is overwritten.
Not before you know what your injuries are and what the claim is worth. An early offer is priced on what the insurer hopes you do not yet know. Get a free evaluation first; there is no cost and no obligation.
Nothing upfront and nothing out of pocket. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, collected only if we win. Our guide to what a personal injury lawyer costs shows the math plainly.
Gammill Law represents people injured in car accidents in Inglewood and throughout the South Bay, including Torrance, Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Carson, El Segundo, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. For other Inglewood injury cases, start at our Inglewood personal injury attorney page.
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.
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
Stuck with bills you can’t pay
Anxious to put your injury behind you
Serving the South Bay and all of California.
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.
