Mountain View Personal Injury Attorney

In 2023 the state counted 40 bicyclists hurt or killed in Mountain View, the seventh-highest figure among 103 California cities of similar population (OTS 2023). Here, more cyclists than pedestrians end up in the state’s injury count. This page walks through the hours, days and weeks after a crash in Mountain View, with the local hospital, police department and road owner you will deal with at each point, as a Mountain View personal injury attorney would explain it to a new client.

At the scene

Call 911 if anyone is hurt. On city streets such as Shoreline Boulevard, Rengstorff Avenue or Castro Street, Mountain View Police respond; the department is headquartered on Villa Street near Castro. Collisions on US-101, SR-85 and SR-237 are worked by Highway Patrol officers assigned to the San Jose Area (CHP Area 340).

While you wait, and only if you can move safely:

1. Photograph the vehicles where they stopped, including any bike lane paint, green conflict markings or bollards near you.
2. Copy down the driver’s license, plate and insurance card; if no one was at the wheel, photograph the roof sensors and any fleet number on the body instead.
3. Ask bystanders for a phone number, including people waiting at a nearby VTA or Caltrain stop.
4. Leave a damaged bicycle as it is. Its frame, wheels and helmet are evidence of how the impact happened.

Tip: Cyclists who feel fine at the scene sometimes wave off the ambulance. Some injuries, concussions especially, take hours to show, and a same-day exam protects both your health and your claim.

Later the same day

The nearest Level I trauma center to Mountain View is Stanford Hospital at 500 Pasteur Drive in Palo Alto, which has held that designation since 1986 (Stanford Health Care).

Many other patients are seen at El Camino Hospital, the 420-bed district hospital on its 41-acre Mountain View campus, whose district covers Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and parts of Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Cupertino (El Camino Hospital).

Whichever you visit, tell the staff exactly how you were hurt, for example “a car turned right across the bike lane on California Street.” That sentence goes into the chart, and the chart is what an insurer reads first.

Days two and three

The MVPD or CHP report

Once the officer finishes the write-up, the Mountain View Police Department releases the collision report to the people involved. Freeway collisions are written up by the Highway Patrol instead, and those reports are released by its Junction Avenue office in San Jose. Write down the report number you were given; it is how both agencies find your file.

Video and witnesses

The city’s six High Injury Network corridors are Rengstorff Avenue, Shoreline Boulevard, Middlefield Road, California Street, El Camino Real and Central Expressway (Mountain View Voice). Businesses along these corridors may have cameras facing the street. Ask for footage in person within the first few days, because private systems tend to overwrite themselves on a short cycle.

Your bicycle and gear

Keep the bike, helmet, lights and torn clothing in a safe place and photograph them. If an insurer wants to inspect the bicycle, that request should go through your lawyer.

The rest of the first week

The other driver’s adjuster will likely call before the week is out, and nothing obliges you to let that adjuster record your account; with a fresh bike crash it makes sense to wait until a doctor has told you what is injured.

Two Mountain View situations call for extra care:

• Rideshare and shuttle vehicles. Uber and Lyft drivers carry company coverage that applies only during certain parts of a trip, and the Mountain View Transportation Management Association runs the MVgo shuttles. Identify the vehicle and its operator early. The rideshare accident page on our site walks through Uber’s and Lyft’s app-off, waiting and on-trip coverage periods.
• Driverless vehicles. Waymo is headquartered in Mountain View, and the city was among the first in its driverless service area after the company received its California permit in 2018 (Waymo). A collision with an autonomous vehicle involves the operator’s cameras and sensor logs, which a lawyer can ask the company to preserve.

Weeks two through four

Stanford and El Camino records

Ask Stanford or El Camino for the whole chart, not a summary: the ER notes, every scan, the orthopedic follow-up and each physical therapy visit. Keep a short diary of what you could not do, such as riding to work or lifting your child. A diary like that gives the pain-and-suffering portion of the claim something concrete, and pay stubs do the same for missed work.

Who owns the road

This is where Mountain View claims become unusual. The city’s busiest roads have three different owners:

If road design, a signal, or a gap in a bike lane contributed to your crash, the written government claim goes to whichever agency owns that road, and it must be presented within six months (Gov. Code §911.2). Your lawsuit against the motorist who hit you on Shoreline or Rengstorff has a two-year limit, counted from the day of the crash (CCP §335.1).

Filing a complaint over a crash on El Camino Real or Central Expressway means a trip to San Jose, since such lawsuits are generally handled at the Downtown Superior Court (Superior Court).

Why bicycle crashes stand out here

Source: OTS 2023 and OTS 2022. Rank 1 is the city with the most victims.

Alcohol plays a smaller role here than in most comparable cities. The risk is mostly about people on bikes and on foot sharing busy arterials with commuter traffic. City data from 2014 to 2022 counted 23 traffic deaths and 111 severe-injury collisions on Mountain View streets, not counting freeways or rail crossings.

Two cases show the pattern. In March 2022, a 13-year-old on a bicycle was killed by a transport truck at El Camino Real and Grant Road; police said speed, drugs and alcohol were not factors (CBS News). In April 2025, a 73-year-old man was struck and killed crossing El Camino Real at Escuela Avenue, the city’s second pedestrian death that year (Mountain View Voice).

The City adopted a Vision Zero policy in December 2019 with a goal of no traffic deaths by 2030 (City of Mountain View). Castro Street dropped off the high-crash list after protected bikeways and the downtown pedestrian mall were built, a sign that street design changes the numbers. Being on the High Injury Network is not proof of City fault; it is a reason to pull that corridor’s crash history and the design plans for the block where you were hit.

Our Mountain View practice

The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani represents cyclists, pedestrians, drivers and transit riders hurt in Mountain View, including commuters who work along US-101 near the Googleplex and NASA Ames. On a Mountain View case we request the MVPD or CHP report, check the crash site against the city’s High Injury Network, identify which of the three road owners is involved, and file any government claim before its six-month deadline.

Given the city’s numbers, many Mountain View matters involve bicycle accidents; we also take on auto accident claims from El Camino Real to the 101 ramps, pedestrians struck in crosswalks, rideshare and autonomous-vehicle collisions, truck crashes, falls on unsafe property and wrongful death claims. For serious head injuries our brain injury page explains what those cases involve.

We charge nothing to review a Mountain View car accident or bike crash, and our fee depends on winning the case. To arrange a review, call (888) 952-2952 or send the details of the Shoreline, El Camino or Central Expressway crash through our case evaluator. If you are still admitted at Stanford or resting at home, a representative can come to you.

Questions we are asked in Mountain View

A driver opened a door into me in the bike lane on California Street. Who pays?

Usually the driver’s auto liability insurance. Section 22517 of the Vehicle Code places that duty on the person opening the door, who must wait until it is reasonably safe.

What if I was hit by a Waymo?

The claim is generally against the company operating the vehicle. Its sensor and video records can show what happened, so ask early for them to be preserved.

My son was hurt riding to school near Latham Street. Is the street dangerous?

After the 2024 data update, Latham Street was newly flagged as a high-crash location, and the City responded with school markings near Castro and Mistral elementary schools, high-visibility crosswalks and speed bumps. A minor’s lawsuit deadline generally runs from age 18, but government claims still have six months.

Do I need a lawyer if the insurer has already offered to pay my bike repair?

Not necessarily for the bike itself. If you were hurt, accepting a quick payment can close the injury claim too, so read any release carefully before you sign it.

This timeline is general information to help you plan the weeks after a Mountain View bike or car crash; it is not legal advice.

Sources

1. Mountain View 2023 — OTS
2. Mountain View 2022 — OTS
3. Area 340 — CHP
4. Stanford Health Care — Wikipedia
5. El Camino Hospital — Wikipedia
6. Latham Street data — Mountain View Voice
7. Waymo — Wikipedia
8. Gov. Code §911.2 — Legislature
9. CCP §335.1 — Legislature
10. Downtown Superior Court — Superior Court
11. Grant Road crash — CBS News
12. Escuela Avenue crash — Mountain View Voice
13. Vision Zero — City of Mountain View