GET A FREE CONSULTATION
310-750-4149
Reviewed by David Gammill, California trial attorney · Last reviewed: August 19, 2026
If a driver hit you in Torrance and fled, you still have a case. Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers represents hit and run victims across the South Bay, and the work starts immediately: preserving camera footage, getting the police report right, and protecting the uninsured motorist claim that usually pays when the driver is never found. The firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients across verdicts and settlements; every case depends on its own facts.
If this happened to you or someone in your family, talk to a lawyer before you accept anything from the insurance company. Call Gammill Law at 310-750-4149 for a free consultation, or reach us through our contact page.
Hit and run cases are won early or not at all. When you call, we move on three fronts at once. We canvass for cameras along the crash corridor (doorbells, storefronts, buses, dashcams) and send preservation demands before footage is overwritten. We make sure the police report is filed within 24 hours and actually says what happened, because that report is a legal requirement for your insurance claim, not just paperwork. And we open the uninsured motorist claim correctly, including the sworn statement California law requires within 30 days.
If you have not already, read our plain-English guide to Vehicle Code § 20001, California’s hit and run law. It explains the driver’s duties, the criminal penalties, and every deadline that protects your claim.
Your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage treats an unidentified hit and run driver as an uninsured driver. California law attaches strict conditions: the crash must have involved physical contact with your vehicle or you, the police report must be filed within 24 hours, and a sworn statement must go to your insurer within 30 days. We handle all of it, and we deal with your insurer so nothing you say gets used to shrink your claim. A UM claim is still an adversarial claim: your own insurance company evaluates it the way it would evaluate a claim against a stranger.
Fleeing drivers are found more often than people expect: partial plates, camera footage, paint transfer, and body-shop records all identify vehicles. When the driver is found, the case proceeds against them and their insurer, and the flight itself becomes powerful evidence. California courts have long held that leaving an injured person at the scene can create liability on top of fault for the crash, and juries do not forgive drivers who run.
People imagine an uninsured motorist claim as filling out a form and waiting for a check. In practice it runs like a case, and it should be prepared like one.
One more coverage layer matters. If the driver is found but carries only California’s minimum policy ($30,000 per person for policies issued or renewed since January 1, 2025), your own underinsured motorist coverage can make up part of the difference. Serious injuries outrun minimum policies quickly; we read your policy and pursue every layer that applies.
Three clocks run at once after a Torrance hit and run: 24 hours for the police report, 30 days for the sworn statement to your insurer, and the two-year lawsuit deadline of CCP § 335.1. If the vehicle that hit you turns out to be a city, county, or transit vehicle, a six-month government claim deadline applies too. The safest move is the same in every case: get counsel involved in the first days, not the final weeks.
Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a crime in California, and if the police identify the driver, prosecutors decide whether to charge it. That criminal case is not your compensation case, and you do not have to wait for it or win it. Your civil claim runs on its own track, under a lower burden of proof, and a driver can owe you full civil damages even if the criminal case ends in a plea, a reduced charge, or no conviction at all.
The two tracks still help each other. The criminal investigation often does the identification work: plate reads, canvassed footage, and body-shop checks. A conviction or plea can be powerful evidence in the civil case. And while criminal courts can order restitution for some out-of-pocket losses, restitution rarely touches the largest parts of an injury claim, like future care, lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering; those are recovered in the civil case. We track the criminal matter, obtain what it produces, and keep your claim moving in parallel rather than behind it.
Crashes inside Torrance are reported to the Torrance Police Department; the 405, 110, and 91 belong to the CHP; and each neighboring South Bay city has its own department, so where the crash happened controls where the 24-hour report goes. The busy corridors where hit and runs cluster (Hawthorne Boulevard, Pacific Coast Highway, Torrance Boulevard, Sepulveda) are also the corridors with the most cameras, which is why the early canvass matters so much. We know the area because we work and live here, and our guide on what to do immediately after a car accident covers the first-hour steps in detail.
Free guide: Crash Course: A California Car Accident Guide (2026). Every deadline, the insurance realities, and the first steps that protect your claim, in one plain-English PDF.
Usually, yes, through your own uninsured motorist coverage, if the conditions above are met. Bring us your policy and we will tell you exactly what coverage you have and what it is worth.
California’s rating rules do not treat an accident you did not principally cause as an at-fault accident against you. Concerns about rates should never stop you from reporting on time; missing the 24-hour or 30-day window can cost the entire claim.
Nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee, collected only if we win, under a written contingency fee agreement that complies with California law.
The first days decide these cases. Talk to a Torrance car accident attorney who handles hit and run claims across the South Bay. Get your free case evaluation or call 310-750-4149 now, any hour, any day. There are no upfront legal fees; a fee is collected only if we win.
Disclaimer: This page is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice for any specific situation. Deadlines and coverage rules are fact-specific; consult a licensed California attorney about your own circumstances. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
