Manhattan Beach Car Accident Lawyer

Reviewed by David Gammill, California trial attorney · Last reviewed: September 24, 2026

If you were hurt in a car crash in Manhattan Beach 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, cyclists, and families in Manhattan Beach 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.

• The deadline: most California car accident lawsuits must be filed within two years of the crash. If a city or state vehicle or roadway is involved, a written claim is due within six months, and that includes Caltrans for a crash on Sepulveda Boulevard.
• The local reality: in 2022, 114 people were killed or injured in Manhattan Beach traffic crashes, the highest count in the state’s rankings for the city since at least 2018, and the Office of Traffic Safety placed the city 28th worst of 90 cities its size that year; in 2023 the count was 98, 43rd of 93.
• The insurance floor: California drivers are required to carry only $30,000 per person in liability coverage, so your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage often matters as much as the other driver’s policy.
• The first step: a free, confidential case evaluation with an attorney. Call 310-750-4149 any time, day or night.

Where Manhattan Beach Car Accidents Happen

Manhattan Beach is a small beach city with one state highway running through it, and its crashes follow that spine. Sepulveda Boulevard is State Route 1 through the city and its north-south arterial. The main east-west streets are Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Rosecrans Avenue, and Artesia Boulevard, and Highland Avenue runs along the bluff above the beach. No freeway passes through the city; the 405 lies to the east, so a Manhattan Beach crash happens on a street with signals, driveways, cross traffic, and people on foot or on bikes. Caltrans’ 2024 traffic census counted about 58,000 vehicles a day on Sepulveda Boulevard just north of Manhattan Beach Boulevard and about 48,000 at Artesia Boulevard, both up from 2023. The reason a city this size carries that much traffic is the coast: the beach, the pier, and the downtown blocks draw visitors from across the region, and the beach neighborhoods are laid out around walk streets, pedestrian streets where cars are not allowed, so the cars that do come funnel onto a few crowded corridors. That does not make any one place responsible for a crash.

The state’s numbers put 2022 as the recent peak. According to the Office of Traffic Safety’s crash rankings for Manhattan Beach, 86 people were killed or injured in the city’s crashes in 2018, 80 in 2019, 55 in 2020 during the pandemic, 97 in 2021, 114 in 2022, and 98 in 2023. The 2022 total placed Manhattan Beach 28th of 90 cities its size, and the 2023 total placed it 43rd of 93. In 2022 the rankings counted 15 speed-related injury crashes in the city. They counted 13 nighttime injury crashes that same year. Hit-and-run injury crashes ran the other way, from 7 in 2022 to 11 in 2023 (22nd of 93), a worse rank than the year before. The signature is Sepulveda. The City of Manhattan Beach’s own 2026 safety report on Sepulveda Boulevard between Artesia Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue counted 13, 13, 18 and 11 fatal and injury crashes in 2021 through 2024 and 14 in the first nine months of 2025, about two-thirds of them car-only collisions and the rest involving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists; the heaviest segments were Manhattan Beach Boulevard to Marine Avenue and Marine to Rosecrans. The same report found a fatal-crash rate on that stretch of more than six times the statewide average for similar highways, while its overall injury-crash rate sat below the statewide figure; on Sepulveda the crashes are not unusually frequent, but the worst of them are unusually deadly. Bicyclists and pedestrians matter on a car accident page, because a driver who strikes a cyclist or a walker is a car accident case in every legal sense. Across 2018 through 2022 the South Bay Bicycle Coalition Plus counted 60 bicycle collisions in Manhattan Beach, 3.4 per 10,000 residents, the fourth-highest bicycle collision rate among the eleven South Bay cities it studied, and 47 pedestrian collisions, 2.7 per 10,000, seventh of eleven; the study concluded that Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Highland Avenue carry the city’s highest collision concentrations. The state’s single-year counts agree on the direction: in 2022 the Office of Traffic Safety’s rankings recorded 22 bicyclists hurt or killed in Manhattan Beach (4th of 90) and 17 pedestrians (10th of 90), and in 2023 those counts eased to 8 bicyclists and 16 pedestrians. In 2022 the rankings also counted 4 pedestrians under 15 hurt or killed (3rd of 90) and 5 bicyclists under 15 (6th of 90), a single year’s picture in a city where children walk and ride to the beach, and not a permanent condition. Drivers must yield to people in marked and unmarked crosswalks under Vehicle Code § 21950, and a driver who ignores that duty is liable on Highland Avenue or on a quiet side street alike.

Manhattan Beach runs its own police force, so a crash on a city street is written up by the Manhattan Beach Police Department, 420 15th Street, and that report becomes the first document every insurer reads. The record the City keeps about its own roads matters too. The City’s current capital plan funds intersection safety work at Manhattan Avenue and 36th Street, Valley Drive and Flournoy Road, and Highland Avenue and 40th Street, and the City and Caltrans have identified more than 40 candidate safety measures for Sepulveda. In a crash case that record is evidence in both directions: it can show what a public entity knew about a road, and it can support an immunity the entity may raise, which is why roadway cases need early investigation.

What to Do After a Car Accident in Manhattan Beach

Call 911 and get medical care first, even if you feel fine; adrenaline masks injuries for hours, and the nearest emergency rooms are in Torrance. Manhattan Beach has its own police department, so on a city street the Manhattan Beach Police Department writes the report, and on Sepulveda Boulevard it is still usually MBPD; the report becomes the first document every insurer reads. 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.

If the other driver left, report it immediately. A prompt police report is a condition of most uninsured motorist claims. Our guide to Vehicle Code § 20001 and hit-and-run injury crashes explains what the law requires and how a claim proceeds 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.

The Deadlines That Control a Manhattan Beach Car Accident Case

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 Manhattan Beach that entity is usually the City of Manhattan Beach for city streets, signals, and a City or police vehicle; a crash on Sepulveda Boulevard can point at Caltrans instead, because Sepulveda through Manhattan Beach is State Route 1 and part of the state highway system; and the County of Los Angeles comes into it only where a county road or county-run facility is involved. When the road itself is part of the case, Government Code § 835 sets the test for a dangerous condition of public property, and the six-month claim is the first step under it. 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 Manhattan Beach car accident lawsuits are filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Southwest District, at either the Torrance Courthouse or the Inglewood Courthouse. Manhattan Beach has no courthouse of its own.

The Insurance Reality in a Manhattan Beach Crash

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 Manhattan Beach 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. That last layer matters here. A small residential city with a state highway through it and a beach that draws the region is crashed into mostly by people who do not live there, and the hit-and-run counts above show that some of them leave. When the driver flees, or carries only the minimum, the victim’s own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is often the policy that pays, and it carries strict notice conditions, so get advice early. That coverage reaches further than most people expect: a cyclist or pedestrian 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 other vehicle was working for Uber or Lyft, a routine fact on the downtown blocks on a weekend night, our rideshare page explains how those policies layer.

How Fault Is Decided in a California Car Accident

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 Manhattan Beach Police Department 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. Speed is often the argument, and under Vehicle Code § 22350, the basic speed law, a driver can be at fault for a speed that was unsafe for the conditions even below the number on the sign; the 15 speed-related injury crashes the state counted in Manhattan Beach in 2022 are the reason that question comes up here. 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. In 2022, 26 people were hurt or killed in alcohol-involved crashes in Manhattan Beach, seventh worst of 90 cities its size in the state’s rankings, and 16 in 2023; when a drunk driver causes a crash, California’s punitive damages law (Civil Code § 3294) can put the driver’s own conduct in front of the jury. Our Torrance car accident attorney page explains how we build and prove crash cases across the South Bay.

What a Manhattan Beach Car Accident Claim Can Recover

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, the family’s claim is a wrongful death claim with its own rules; our wrongful death page explains them. If the crash caused a spinal cord injury, our guide to spinal cord injury claims in California explains how those cases are valued.

Why Manhattan Beach Drivers Choose Gammill Law

A South Bay Trial Firm

Our office is in Torrance, on Del Amo Boulevard at Hawthorne Boulevard, a few miles inland, 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.

No Fees Unless We Win

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.

We Come to You

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.

How Do I Find the Best Manhattan Beach Car Accident Lawyer?

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 a case. 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.

Frequently Asked Questions About Manhattan Beach Car Accidents

How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in Manhattan Beach?

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 Manhattan Beach or Caltrans, a written claim is due within six months under Gov. Code § 911.2, and that shorter deadline controls.

The driver who hit me on Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach drove off. Can I still recover?

Yes, and you are not alone in that position: the state’s rankings recorded 11 hit-and-run injury crashes in Manhattan Beach in 2023. Report the crash to the Manhattan Beach Police Department right away; the driver had a legal duty to stop and stay, and the report is usually a condition of the claim that follows. If the driver is identified, the claim runs against that driver’s liability policy. If the driver is never found, your own uninsured motorist coverage is usually the policy that pays, and it has short notice requirements, which is why the police report and an early call to a lawyer both matter. Sepulveda is the busiest road in the city, and a crash there often leaves video on nearby cameras that is overwritten within days if no one asks for it.

The insurance adjuster already offered me money. Should I take it?

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.

How much does it cost to hire Gammill Law?

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.

Serving Manhattan Beach and the Whole South Bay

Gammill Law represents people injured in car accidents in Manhattan Beach and throughout the South Bay, including Torrance, Gardena, Inglewood, Carson, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Lomita, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. For other Manhattan Beach injury cases, start at our Manhattan Beach personal injury attorney page.

Get Started Now: 100% Free, Zero Risk

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.