Redondo Beach Personal Injury Attorney

Redondo Beach finished first, the least favorable spot, when the California Office of Traffic Safety scored 104 similar-size cities for 2022 crash victims (OTS 2022). A year later it was 8th of 103 (OTS 2023). If a crash on Pacific Coast Highway, near the pier or in North Redondo has left you hurt, a Redondo Beach personal injury attorney will start by asking the offices listed below for their records. This page explains what each office keeps, how long each deadline runs and how our firm uses that material.

At a glance — Redondo Beach

• About 67,281 residents, 2025 estimate (Census)
• Ranked 1st of 104 on the 2022 OTS composite
• Alcohol victims in 2022: 78, ranked 1st
• 32 cyclists hurt in 2023 (6th of 103)
• Lawsuits generally filed in Torrance

Where the reports and charts are kept

The case number printed on the officer’s card decides where the request goes: Redondo Beach PD numbers go to the city’s records unit, and CHP numbers go to the Area 530 office on Hamilton Avenue.

The health district is not a hospital

The Beach Cities Health District, headquartered in Redondo Beach, began in 1955 as South Bay Hospital but no longer runs an emergency room (overview). Seriously injured South Bay patients go instead to trauma centers such as Harbor-UCLA, the area’s adult Level I center, and that is where we ask for the trauma chart, CT images and discharge summary.

Alcohol, bicycles and late nights

The OTS tables show where Redondo Beach differs most from its peers.

Alcohol

Redondo officers booked 196 drivers for DUI in 2023, a total that placed the city 95th of 103 on the OTS arrest scale, where 1 is the fewest (OTS 2023). On this measure a high rank signals heavy enforcement, not a worse record. For an injured person, a DUI booking usually means a chemical test result and a written narrative that an insurer cannot easily wave away.

Bicycles

Thirty-two bicycle riders were hurt on Redondo streets in 2023, sixth-highest in the group, and 7 were younger than 15, which ranked eighth. In 2022 the count was 41, fifth-highest.

After dark

Between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., city streets produced 51 injury crashes in 2022, third in the group, and 36 in 2023, fifteenth (OTS 2022). Motorcyclists followed a similar line: 25 hurt in 2022 and 16 in 2023, ranked sixth and seventh.

Pedestrians

Pedestrians fared better than cyclists: 22 were killed or injured in 2023, a result that ranked 32nd of 103. One was under 15 and two were 65 or older.

OTS leaves out freeway collisions worked by the CHP, so these rankings speak to surface roads such as Artesia Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

Streets shared with e-bikes and golf carts

The City Council adopted the South Bay Local Travel Network in 2025. It marks lower-speed routes with sharrows and wayfinding signs and invites bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, golf carts and neighborhood electric vehicles to use them, and the city set its public launch for October 29, 2026 (City of Redondo Beach). The city’s stated reason is that 70% of South Bay trips cover three miles or less.

When a car strikes a golf cart or an e-bike on one of these routes, the insurer’s first questions tend to be about the smaller vehicle:

• Was the cart permitted on that street?
• Did it have working lights after dark?
• Did the driver ignore the painted sharrows?

Photographs of the markings and signs at the exact spot answer those questions better than anyone’s memory a month later.

Watch out: Golf carts and e-bikes almost never carry dashcams. Residents along a network street may have doorbell cameras pointed at the curb, and that video is often overwritten within days, so ask for it in the first week.

Claim windows and venue

Venue for a Redondo injury lawsuit follows a May 2024 order of the Los Angeles Superior Court (LASC order). In practice that usually means the Southwest District, which sits in Torrance; the court’s online locator, checked against the exact crash address, has the final word.

Hypothetical example: a golf-cart driver on a sharrow-marked network street is found 30% responsible for being struck by a speeding sedan. California’s pure comparative fault rule still leaves that driver 70% of the proven damages (CACI 405).

What South Bay riders and drivers ask

A Redondo Beach officer arrested the driver who hit me. Does that settle who was at fault?

Not by itself. The booking and any blood or breath result carry weight with an adjuster, but civil fault is decided on the whole record, including the scene photos, the witnesses and the damage to both vehicles.

My 12-year-old was hit while riding to school in South Redondo. How long do we have?

For your son or daughter’s own injuries, the two-year period usually starts at 18, so the claim generally stays open until about age 20. The parents’ claim for the Harbor-UCLA bills does not wait that long, and a claim against the City still carries the six-month limit.

The other driver says my golf cart did not belong on that street. Is my claim over?

No. Whether the cart was allowed on that route bears on how fault is divided, not on whether you can recover anything.

Will I have to appear at the Torrance Courthouse?

Few Redondo Beach cases ever reach a courtroom on Maple Avenue. If yours does, you would sit for a deposition and attend the trial; we cover the routine hearings.

I fell while leaving the K Line platform. Who is responsible?

The answer turns on what made you fall. A cracked platform edge points toward Metro, while a car pulling into the drop-off area points toward its driver and that driver’s insurer. Keep the TAP card or ticket you used that day, since it shows when you entered the station.

What our firm does on a Redondo case

The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani (Call Jacob) represents residents of Riviera Village, North Redondo and South Redondo, along with beach visitors and K Line commuters, after crashes on Redondo streets. On a new Redondo Beach case we usually request the police or CHP report in the first week and ask businesses near King Harbor and Pacific Coast Highway to save camera footage before their systems record over it.

When a drinking driver caused the crash, we pull the Redondo Beach PD arrest file and test results, then compare your own uninsured and underinsured motorist limits with the driver’s policy. Our Redondo Beach practice covers car and auto accident claims, motorcycle crashes after dark, bicycle and e-bike or scooter collisions on the Local Travel Network, pedestrians struck near the pier, Uber and Lyft passengers, falls on unsafe business property and wrongful death claims brought by families.

Useful to have at the first meeting:

• The officer’s card
• Witness names
• Photos of sharrows and signs
• Hospital and pharmacy receipts

You can bring your questions about a Pacific Coast Highway or Artesia Boulevard crash to a Redondo Beach car accident lawyer at no charge, and if we take the case, our fee is owed only after a win. If you are still admitted at Harbor-UCLA, we will come to you there. Call (888) 952-2952. Clients recovering at home often prefer the online case evaluator, which takes a few minutes. En español: calljacob.com/es.

General information only. Not legal advice.

Sources

1. OTS 2023 rankings — OTS
2. OTS 2022 rankings — OTS
3. Sub-est2025 file — Census
4. Area 530 — CHP
5. Torrance Courthouse — LASC
6. LASC order on PI venue — LASC
7. Trauma centers 8.22.25 — EMSA
8. Biking and micromobility — City of Redondo Beach
9. Redondo Beach — Wikipedia
10. Gov. Code §911.2 — Legislature
11. CCP §335.1 — Legislature
12. CACI 405 — Justia