Manhattan Beach Personal Injury Attorney

In 2025, two Manhattan Beach high school students were killed on Sepulveda Boulevard within about four months of each other, both in crashes blamed on suspected speeding drivers (NBC Los Angeles). Sepulveda draws most of the public concern, but injuries happen across the city. Below, Sepulveda, the downtown grid, the Strand and Aviation each get a section on the kinds of injuries reported there and the records worth preserving, the same groundwork a Manhattan Beach personal injury attorney would lay before talking to an insurer.

At a glance — Manhattan Beach

• A beach city of 33,122, by the federal Vintage 2025 count (Census)
• Sand and surf that draw upward of 3.8 million visits annually (Wikipedia)
• Seventh among 93 peer cities for children under 15 hurt while walking (2023, OTS)
• Its own police force, the Manhattan Beach Police Department

Jump to a corridor:

• Sepulveda Boulevard
• Downtown and the Sand Section
• The Strand
• Aviation Boulevard and the east side

The 2023 crash picture

Source: OTS 2023. The combined score ranked 29th of 93. The 94 DUI arrests credited to local officers are not in the table, because OTS sorts that column the other way round; their 66th place is a measure of enforcement, not of risk.

Sepulveda Boulevard

Sepulveda, which NBC describes as also known as Pacific Coast Highway, is the city’s main north-south highway. On January 7, 2025, Mira Costa High School senior Ford Savela, 18, was killed by a suspected speeding driver who fled; a memorial now stands near Sepulveda and 3rd Street. A pedestrian had been killed about half a mile away a month earlier, and roughly four months later another student, Braun Levi, was killed two blocks away by a driver suspected of speeding and driving under the influence (NBC Los Angeles).

A city staff report describes the Manhattan Beach Police Department enforcing the city’s stretch of Sepulveda with support from partner agencies, and records staff discussion of seeking a place in the state’s speed-camera pilot program (City of Manhattan Beach).

What evidence matters on Sepulveda?

• The police report and any accident reconstruction, which matter most where speed is alleged
• Footage from Sepulveda’s fuel stations, drive-throughs and strip-mall lots, which is often kept only briefly
• The airbag control module in each car, which can show how fast a suspected speeder was going
• Records from any prosecution of a driver who fled the scene or was booked for DUI

When a Sepulveda driver was impaired, the criminal file can also support a civil request for punitive damages. Alcohol was a factor for 16 people hurt in Manhattan Beach in 2023; for 11 of those, the drinker behind the wheel was between 21 and 34, which put the city 15th in its group on that line.

Downtown and the Sand Section

Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Highland Avenue, Marine Avenue and Rosecrans Avenue are the main local streets serving downtown, the North Manhattan Beach business district and the beach (Wikipedia). Here beach traffic, the search for parking and people on foot all share the same few blocks of the Sand Section and downtown.

Walking children are where this city stands out: 3 under the age of 15 among 16 pedestrian victims in 2023, seventh-worst in the group (OTS). The overall pedestrian figure ranked 13th.

Why do summer visitors complicate a claim?

The Manhattan Beach Open volleyball tournament and the International Surf Festival both take place each August, on top of the more than 3.8 million beach visits the city sees each year. Crashes involving visitors often mean the other driver lives elsewhere and carries an out-of-area insurer, which makes early contact information and photographs all the more important.

Tip: After a downtown crash, walk the block within a day or two and note every lens pointed at Manhattan Beach Boulevard or Highland, from boutiques to the city parking lots, then send each owner a written hold request.

The Strand

The Strand runs along the sand with a concrete bike path and a separate 2.1-mile pedestrian walkway (Wikipedia). Collisions here are usually between people rather than cars: a cyclist and a walker, two riders, or a skateboarder and a jogger. Bicyclists made up 8 of the city’s 2023 victims, and 2 of those riders were younger than 15 (OTS).

A Strand claim often depends on homeowner’s or renter’s insurance rather than an auto policy, because the person at fault was riding, not driving.

Riders hurt by a car at a Strand access street will find the driver-versus-cyclist issues on our bicycle accident page.

Aviation Boulevard and the east side

Aviation Boulevard forms the city’s eastern boundary (Wikipedia). The Metro K Line’s Douglas and Redondo Beach stations sit nearby, just outside city limits, and Beach Cities Transit buses serve the area.

Who writes the report near Aviation?

Freeway collisions belong to the CHP, and the agency’s Area 565 office in Culver City (6300 Bristol Parkway) names Manhattan Beach in its coverage, along with the I-405 (CHP). If you are unsure whether the CHP or Manhattan Beach police took your report, check the card the officer gave you before requesting it.

Police reports, Harbor-UCLA and the court

If a Sepulveda or Strand claim has to be filed, it goes into the county’s Superior Court system, where a 2024 order made the place of injury the usual basis for choosing among judicial districts (LASC General Order). The 211 LA directory lists the Torrance Courthouse, at 825 Maple Avenue, among the courts serving Manhattan Beach (211 LA), but we confirm the correct district with the court’s own locator for each case.

Deadlines are the same as anywhere in California, but they are easy to miss after a serious injury. Suing the driver from a Sepulveda crash is generally possible for two years (CCP 335.1), but a claim that the City of Manhattan Beach maintained a dangerous Strand path or crosswalk must be presented within six months (Government Code 911.2). A Strand rider whom a jury holds 20% responsible still collects the other 80% of proven damages (CACI 405).

Call Jacob in Manhattan Beach

Call Jacob represents people hurt throughout Manhattan Beach, from families in the Tree Section and Hill Section to students at Mira Costa, beachgoers and the commuters who use Sepulveda and Aviation every day. On a Manhattan Beach case we request the Manhattan Beach Police Department or CHP report, preserve video along Sepulveda and downtown, and look closely at speed and impairment evidence when a driver fled or was arrested.

Given what the OTS and the 2025 Sepulveda deaths show, a large part of our Manhattan Beach work involves pedestrian accidents involving young people and crashes caused by drivers who were drinking or speeding. Other matters we take in the beach cities include motorcycle wrecks on Highland, Strand bicycle and e-scooter injuries, rideshare and delivery truck crashes, falls in downtown shops and restaurants, dog bites, and wrongful death claims for families who have lost someone. If you are looking for a Manhattan Beach car accident lawyer after a crash on Sepulveda or Rosecrans, our car accident practice is the place to start.

Sepulveda, Highland or the Strand: wherever it happened, talking it over with us is free, and the contingency arrangement means no fee is owed unless we win. Phone (888) 952-2952, or fill out the short case evaluator form, and we will come to your house in the Tree Section, a hospital room at Harbor-UCLA or another place that suits you. Información en español sobre accidentes en Sepulveda y el Strand: calljacob.com/es.

More from Manhattan Beach callers

My teenager was hit walking near Mira Costa. What should we do first?

Have a pediatrician or emergency doctor see your child, even for bruises. Next, collect classmates’ and parents’ names and ask nearby businesses about cameras. A minor generally has longer to sue, but witnesses from that afternoon near campus will forget details within weeks.

The driver was a visitor from another state. Is my claim harder?

Not legally. A beach visitor’s out-of-state policy still has to answer for a crash in Manhattan Beach, though tracking down that driver later is easier if you photographed the plate and insurance card before they left.

Can I file a claim if I was hurt on the Strand rather than a street?

Yes. A cyclist who ran into you on the walkway may have a homeowner’s or renter’s policy that covers the harm, and a crumbling surface could make it a six-month government claim.

Nobody knows who hit me on Sepulveda. What now?

Tell MBPD right away, since a prompt police record is what an uninsured motorist adjuster will ask to see. If the hit-and-run driver is never identified, that UM coverage on your own policy becomes the main path to payment.

Corridor descriptions, crash counts and deadlines here are general information; they are not legal advice, and a short consultation can apply them to your facts.

Sources

1. Census file sub-est2025, Manhattan Beach line — U.S. Census Bureau
2. Crash rankings, Manhattan Beach 2023 — OTS
3. Sepulveda deaths and memorial — NBC Los Angeles
4. Published staff document 59043 on Sepulveda and speed cameras — City of Manhattan Beach
5. Manhattan Beach, California — Wikipedia
6. Area 565, West Los Angeles — CHP
7. EMSA 8.22.25 list including Harbor-UCLA — EMSA
8. Civil state trial courts — 211 LA
9. LASC filing order cited for the district-of-crash rule — Los Angeles Superior Court
10. Two-year deadline for the Sepulveda driver claim — leginfo
11. Six-month presentation statute (Strand path, crosswalks) — leginfo
12. Pure comparative fault, as applied to a Strand rider — Justia