Pedestrian Collisions in Los Angeles

Los Angeles records more pedestrian deaths than any other U.S. city—well over 100 per year, roughly half of all traffic deaths in the city—and thousands of pedestrian injuries. The city adopted Vision Zero in 2015 with the goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2025; deaths instead rose. The city’s own analysis shows that 6% of streets, the High-Injury Network, account for about two-thirds of severe pedestrian injuries. For a person struck in Los Angeles, those facts shape both the investigation and the claim.

The High-Injury Network

LADOT’s High-Injury Network identifies the corridors where severe and fatal collisions concentrate. Among the worst for pedestrians:

• South Los Angeles: Western Avenue, Vermont Avenue, Figueroa Street, Broadway, Florence Avenue, Manchester Avenue, Slauson Avenue, Central Avenue.
• San Fernando Valley: Sepulveda Boulevard, Van Nuys Boulevard, Roscoe Boulevard, Sherman Way, Reseda Boulevard, Lankershim Boulevard.
• Central/Hollywood/Koreatown: Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Western Avenue, Olympic Boulevard, 6th Street, Wilshire Boulevard.
• Downtown and Eastside: 7th Street, Figueroa, Alameda, Whittier Boulevard, Cesar Chavez Avenue, Soto Street.
• Westside and Harbor: Venice Boulevard, Lincoln Boulevard, Pacific Avenue, Gaffey Street.

The pattern is consistent: six- and eight-lane arterials, long blocks, transit stops, nighttime, and speeds well above the posted limit. Since 2022 the city has used AB 43 to lower posted speeds on some of these corridors.

Who investigates

LAPD’s Traffic Divisions (Central, South, Valley, West) investigate pedestrian collisions, with the Multidisciplinary Collision Investigation Team (MCIT) handling fatal and critical-injury cases. Serious investigations close streets for hours and produce detailed reports with reconstruction, which can take months. Collisions on freeways and state routes (PCH in some stretches, Lincoln Boulevard as SR-1) may be CHP cases. Reports are requested through LAPD’s Traffic Collision Report request process. See how to get a police report.

Fault

Drivers must yield to pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks (Vehicle Code § 21950) and exercise due care for pedestrians anywhere. Insurers reflexively assign comparative fault to pedestrians outside crosswalks, at night or wearing dark clothing. Two developments help pedestrians: the Freedom to Walk Act (AB 2147, effective 2023) bars citations for safe mid-block crossings and undercuts the “jaywalking” narrative; and the city’s own High-Injury Network designation of a corridor is evidence that the danger to pedestrians there was known. The severity of injury itself is evidence of speed, and the driver’s speed is the most important fault factor. Driver impairment and distraction are common; the police report’s sobriety codes and any phone records matter.

Hit-and-run

A large share of Los Angeles pedestrian collisions—and in some years a majority of pedestrian deaths—involve drivers who flee. Camera canvassing in the first days, LAPD’s reward program and the uninsured motorist coverage of the pedestrian’s household are the recovery paths. See Los Angeles hit-and-run.

Claims against the City of Los Angeles

Where road design, lighting, signal timing, missing or faded crosswalks or inadequate pedestrian intervals contributed, the city (or Caltrans, for state routes) may be liable for a dangerous condition of public property under Government Code § 835. A written claim must be presented to the Los Angeles City Clerk within six months. The city has paid substantial judgments in pedestrian cases on High-Injury Network streets, and the Vision Zero documents are evidence of notice. LADOT and Metro buses are public entities too, with the same six-month deadline. See claim deadlines.

Medical care

Pedestrian injuries in Los Angeles are routed to the county’s trauma network: LAC+USC, Cedars-Sinai, Ronald Reagan UCLA and Harbor-UCLA (Level I); California Hospital, Northridge, Holy Cross and others (Level II); Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for children. Severe cases continue to Rancho Los Amigos for rehabilitation. The common injuries—leg and pelvic fractures, brain injury, spinal injury—are discussed at fractures, traumatic brain injuries and Los Angeles brain injury claims.

Next step

If you or a family member was struck while walking in Los Angeles, tell us about your accident. See also pedestrian accidents and our Los Angeles car accident page.

Los Angeles questions

I was hit crossing Vermont at night outside a crosswalk. Does the insurer’s 50% fault allocation stand?

Not automatically. Fault depends on the driver’s speed, attention, lighting and the crossing conditions, and Vermont is a designated High-Injury Network street. Comparative fault reduces recovery but does not bar it, and the allocation is negotiable and ultimately for a jury.

Can I sue the City of Los Angeles for an unlit crossing?

Possibly, under the dangerous-condition statute. A government claim must be presented within six months. These claims are fact-intensive and typically require an engineer’s review.

How long will the LAPD investigation take?

Minor injury reports are usually available in a few weeks; MCIT investigations of critical and fatal collisions can take several months. Insurance claims can proceed in the meantime.

Sources and official resources

• Vehicle Code § 21950 (duty to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks)
• Vehicle Code § 22350 (basic speed law)
• Government Code § 911.2 (six-month claim deadline against public entities)
• Vision Zero Los Angeles (LADOT Livable Streets)
• LAPD — request a traffic collision report
• UC Berkeley SafeTREC Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS)
• Vision Zero Los Angeles — High Injury Network

Links go to official government, court and public-health sources. Laws change; verify current text before relying on it.