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Reviewed by David Gammill, California trial attorney · Last reviewed: September 25, 2026
If you were hurt in a car crash in Lomita 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 people hurt in crashes in Lomita 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.
Lomita is a small city with no freeway inside it; the 110 and the 405 both pass outside the city line. Pacific Coast Highway crosses the city and connects it to Torrance and Harbor City; it is the commercial through-corridor, lined with driveways and shopping-center entrances. Lomita Boulevard and Narbonne Avenue carry the local traffic that feeds it, with Narbonne serving as the small-town main street; Western Avenue runs along the eastern edge, and Crenshaw Boulevard marks the western one. A crash on Pacific Coast Highway can point at Caltrans, because PCH is State Route 1 and part of the state highway system; the streets that feed it are the City of Lomita’s. The state has studied the corridor’s parking and signal timing; that history is evidence in a case, not a conclusion about any driver. School pick-up and drop-off traffic around Fleming Middle School is the city’s recurring pedestrian generator. That does not make any one place responsible for a crash. On any city street in Lomita, a deputy from the Sheriff’s Lomita Station writes the report.
Call 911 and get medical care, even if you feel fine at the scene; adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap in treatment becomes the insurer’s argument later. A deputy from the Sheriff’s Lomita Station writes the report on a city street, and that report becomes the first document every insurer reads, so make sure it is written and get the report number; if the Highway Patrol wrote yours instead, the same rules apply. Photograph the vehicles, the road, the signals and your injuries. Get the other driver’s license, insurance card and plate, and the names and numbers of witnesses; a driver passing through on Pacific Coast Highway is harder to find next month than today. Say nothing about fault, to the other driver or to anyone’s insurer, and do not give a recorded statement to the other side. Our step-by-step guide on what to do after a crash walks through each of these.
If the other driver left the scene, report it to the Sheriff’s Department immediately and tell them everything you remember about the car. A driver involved in an injury crash must stop and stay under Vehicle Code § 20001, leaving is a crime, and a prompt police report is usually a condition of the victim’s own uninsured motorist claim, which is often the policy that pays when the driver is never found. And download our free guide, Crash Course: A California Car Accident Guide (2026), to keep every deadline and first step in one place.
Most California car accident lawsuits must be filed within two years of the crash. 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 public 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, and the two-year rule does not save a missed claim. In Lomita that entity is usually the City of Lomita for city streets and signals. A crash on Pacific Coast Highway can point at Caltrans instead, because PCH is State Route 1 and part of the state highway system. And because Lomita contracts its policing to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a collision with a patrol car in Lomita is usually a claim against the County, not the City, as is a crash on a county road. 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 Lomita car accident lawsuits are filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Southwest District, at either the Torrance Courthouse or the Inglewood Courthouse; since 2022 the court has kept new personal injury cases in their local district courts from filing through trial. Lomita has no courthouse of its own.
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 a Lomita 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 rental company’s coverage if the car was a rental, a rideshare company’s policy if the trip was on the app, and your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. That last policy matters here, because many drivers on Pacific Coast Highway are passing through Lomita rather than living in it; when the other driver flees or carries only the minimum, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is often the policy that pays, and it has strict notice conditions, so get advice early. A pedestrian or cyclist struck by a car may claim on their own auto policy’s uninsured motorist coverage even though no car of theirs was involved. If the driver who hit you was working for Uber or Lyft, the coverage that applies depends on what the app showed at the moment of the crash, and we obtain that record.
California is a fault state: the driver who caused the crash, and that driver’s insurer, pay for the harm. Fault is proved with evidence: the Sheriff’s report, the physical evidence, the vehicles’ damage patterns, camera footage from the signals and businesses along the corridors before it is overwritten, and witness statements taken while memories are fresh. Our Torrance car accident attorney page explains how we build and prove crash cases across the South Bay. 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 crash, punitive damages may be available on clear and convincing proof under Civil Code § 3294; they are never guaranteed, but they change how an insurer values the claim.
California law allows injured people to recover economic damages, meaning documented losses like 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, California law lets the closest family members bring a claim for their loss, and it has its own rules and deadlines; our wrongful death page explains who can file and what the claim covers.
Our office is in Torrance, the city next door, on Del Amo Boulevard at Hawthorne 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. Call 310-750-4149 any time, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
Start with trial experience, because the value an insurer puts on your 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 crash for most claims, under CCP § 335.1. If a public entity may be responsible, a written claim is due to that entity within six months under Government Code § 911.2, and the two-year rule does not save a missed claim. Both guides are linked above.
Usually it is the other driver. A rear-end crash is a claim against the driver who hit you and that driver’s insurer, and a deputy from the Sheriff’s Lomita Station writes the report that starts it. The road itself becomes a defendant only when something about the road, a signal, or a design contributed to the crash. On Pacific Coast Highway that claim can point at Caltrans, because PCH is State Route 1 and part of the state highway system, and a road-design claim against a public entity runs through the six-month government claim first. A hazard on a city street points at the City of Lomita. We look at the road as part of every case, but PCH is a place name here, not a cause; the driver who hit you is where the claim begins.
Not before you know what your claim is worth. An early offer arrives before your medical picture is complete, and signing a release ends the claim for good, including for injuries that show up later. Have an attorney review the offer against your treatment, your lost income, and the coverage that actually applies; the review is free, and the adjuster’s number rarely survives it.
Nothing upfront and nothing unless we win. We work on a contingency fee, paid only out of the recovery. Our page on what a personal injury lawyer costs explains the arrangement in detail.
Gammill Law represents people hurt in car crashes in Lomita and Harbor City and throughout the South Bay, including Torrance, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Carson, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, El Segundo, and the beach cities. For other Lomita injury cases, start at our Lomita 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.
