La Palma Personal Injury Attorney

La Palma packs 14,907 residents (Census 2025 estimate) into a compact grid at roughly 8,750 people per square mile as of 2020 (Wikipedia), and in 2023 its streets produced 68 traffic victims, killed or injured, enough to place it 22nd of 103 comparably sized California cities on the Office of Traffic Safety’s list, where 1st is the worst (OTS 2023). If you were hurt here and are thinking about speaking with a La Palma personal injury attorney, this page lays out the La Palma offices, hospitals and records a claim actually runs through.

Alcohol is the category where La Palma stands out most: 11 people were hurt or killed in alcohol-involved crashes, which ranked 20th in the group, and 6 bicyclist victims ranked 20th as well. Those are counts from the city grid alone; whatever happens on the 91 Freeway is left to the Highway Patrol’s own records.

Local offices and what each one does

Collisions on La Palma Avenue and side streets

La Palma runs its own police department rather than contracting with the Sheriff, so its own officers investigate a crash on the city grid. Before leaving, write the officer’s name and the report number on something you will keep, because the request for a La Palma report goes to that department and an adjuster will usually want that report before moving the claim forward.

The 91 Freeway

The 91 is another matter. Because the CHP’s Westminster Area counts SR-91 among its freeways, a La Palma driver rear-ended on that stretch should generally expect a Highway Patrol officer, a CHP report number and nothing at all from La Palma police.

Intercommunity Hospital and UCI Medical Center

Close to home

La Palma Intercommunity Hospital is inside city limits and ranks among La Palma’s largest employers (Wikipedia). Whether it holds any trauma designation is something we have not confirmed, so do not read much into which hospital an ambulance chose.

Level I trauma care

A crash victim with life-threatening injuries may instead be taken past Intercommunity to UCI Medical Center, whose trauma program is the county’s single Level I service for adults (UCI Health). A patient stabilized at Intercommunity and then transferred ends up with two charts, and the insurer will want both.

Tip: Ask each records office for the full chart, including radiology reads and discharge instructions, and ask the ambulance provider for its run report; a billing printout is not a medical record.

The December 2024 pursuit crash

On December 18, 2024, a theft suspect running from police crashed into traffic at La Palma Avenue and Moody Street, killing a 67-year-old La Palma resident at the wheel of a BMW. Reports say the chase began in Fullerton, ran along the 91, and was taken up by La Palma officers near La Palma Avenue and Walker Street before it ended (FOX 11; CBS LA).

Someone struck by a fleeing car has an obvious wrongdoer and, often, very little money to collect from that person, which is why the victim’s own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage tends to carry these claims. If the family also believes the pursuing agency acted wrongly, a written claim must reach that agency within six months, and California gives police departments considerable legal protection in chase cases, so the question needs a lawyer’s attention early.

Watch out: When a chase like the one that ended at Moody Street takes a life, spouses, children and certain other relatives may have a wrongful death claim, and any part of it aimed at a police agency is subject to the same six-month clock.

The 2023 numbers in detail

Figures come from the OTS 2023 results; in the crash rows, a lower rank means a heavier toll relative to the peer group.

Overall, La Palma lands mid-pack at 53rd, yet the alcohol and cyclist rows sit inside the worst fifth, so two kinds of crash stand out from the rest. With totals this low, one bad weekend on La Palma Avenue could reshuffle either row next year. The department also booked 36 drivers for DUI that year. OTS orders arrest totals on a scale of their own, so that figure reflects enforcement effort, not road danger. When the motorist who hit you was one of those arrests, the arrest narrative and chemical test result can be subpoenaed into your civil case, which moves forward independently of the District Attorney.

Tip for cyclists: Expect the adjuster on a cyclist’s claim to say the rider was invisible at dusk or hugging the wrong part of the lane. The answers, from bike-light and reflector evidence to where state law lets a cyclist ride, are set out on our bicycle accident page.

What injured La Palma residents want to know

Will La Palma police have my report if the crash happened on the 91 near Knott Avenue?

Usually not. The split works like this:

• Surface streets inside La Palma, including La Palma Avenue and Walker Street, belong to La Palma police.
• Freeway lanes are the exception, and those collisions are generally documented by Westminster Area officers of the CHP.

Does a police chase change who pays for my injuries?

The fleeing motorist is liable first, though collecting from that person may be impossible, so your own UM/UIM limits often decide what is available. If you think the officers who chased the car share blame, the claim against their department must be presented within six months.

My child was hit while riding a bike near home. What should I do first?

Have your child examined, then ask La Palma police for the report number and photograph the street before anything changes. Six cyclists were hurt on La Palma streets in 2023, and the exact riding position and lighting will be argued.

Is La Palma Intercommunity Hospital a trauma center?

We have not been able to verify a trauma designation for Intercommunity. Where you were treated does not by itself show how serious an injury is; the medical records do.

The driver who hit me on La Palma Avenue was booked for DUI. Do I need a separate injury claim?

Yes. Whatever sentence the court imposes on the driver, the criminal case leaves your UCI or Intercommunity bills and lost paychecks unpaid. Your civil claim against the driver’s insurer stands on its own, and the arrest file helps prove it.

Evidence worth saving in the first week

Much of what proves a La Palma claim is gathered by the injured person or family in the days after the crash.

• The report number La Palma police or Westminster CHP gave you, kept with the card or note from the scene
• Phone photos of the signals, lane paint, skid marks and both vehicles at La Palma Avenue, Walker Street or wherever it happened
• Contact details for bystanders, drivers who stopped and anyone in a nearby yard or storefront
• A written request to La Palma businesses and homeowners with cameras pointed at the street, sent before their systems overwrite
• Charts from Intercommunity, UCI or the urgent-care clinic where you were first seen
• The coverage summary from your own insurer showing uninsured and underinsured motorist limits, which often set the ceiling in a pursuit or hit-and-run case
• The OCTA route number and bus number, if a bus struck you or you were riding one

Watch out: Many home and business camera systems on the La Palma grid record over themselves within days or weeks, so the video request is the item on this list that cannot wait.

How long a La Palma claim can wait

Four clocks can apply, depending on who is responsible.

Comparative fault applies too. Suppose a jury decides a cyclist on Walker Street was one-quarter to blame for riding at night without a light; that rider’s damages are cut by 25 percent, not erased (CACI 405). Litigation, if it comes to that, belongs to the Orange County Superior Court, and the courthouse assignment for a particular La Palma complaint is something we check at filing.

How we represent cyclists and DUI victims here

Who we represent

The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani (Call Jacob) represents people hurt in La Palma, including cyclists struck on the city grid, drivers hit by impaired motorists on La Palma Avenue and families of those killed in pursuit crashes. Our first requests on a La Palma file are the La Palma Police Department report, or the CHP Westminster report for a crash on the 91, and the charts from La Palma Intercommunity Hospital or UCI Medical Center.

Drunk-driving, bicycle and other La Palma claims

The city’s 2023 figures point to drunk-driving and bicycle crashes, so we look hardest at those here. We also represent La Palma clients in car accident claims, children struck on foot near home, motorcycle crashes, OCTA bus collisions, falls on unsafe floors at local businesses, dog attacks and wrongful death cases. Anyone who wants a La Palma car accident lawyer to take over the calls from the insurance adjuster can hand them to us, and if leaving the house is hard, someone from our office can come to you.

Getting in touch

There is no charge to go over the La Palma collision with us, and no fee at all unless we win. Call (888) 952-2952. People who would rather write it down can use the online case evaluator and include the officer’s report number from the scene. Información en español.

Read this La Palma guide as general background built from public sources; it is not legal advice.

Sources

1. OTS 2023, La Palma — California OTS
2. Vintage 2025 estimates — U.S. Census Bureau
3. La Palma — Wikipedia
4. Area 670 — CHP
5. UCI trauma — UCI Health
6. Fullerton chase — FOX 11
7. Pursuit crash — CBS LA
8. Court locations — OC Superior Court
9. CCP §335.1 — Legislature
10. Gov. Code §911.2 — Legislature
11. CCP §338 — Legislature
12. CCP §352 — Legislature
13. CACI 405 — Justia