Where people get hit in Glendale
Downtown Glendale is the densest pedestrian environment between Pasadena and Burbank. The Galleria, The Americana at Brand, the Central Library, offices along Brand, and the restaurants on Brand and Broadway put thousands of people on foot in a few blocks, crossing wide streets designed to move cars. The intersections that come up again and again in our cases are Brand and Broadway, Brand and Colorado, Central and Colorado, and the crossings around the Galleria entrances on Central and Broadway. Left-turning drivers looking for a gap in oncoming traffic, and right turns on red into a crosswalk, are the two most common ways a Glendale pedestrian gets hit.
Older residents are hurt at a disproportionate rate. Glendale ranks second of 62 similar-size cities for pedestrian victims aged 65 and older, and long crossings on Brand, Central, and Glenoaks, with signals timed for younger walkers, are part of the reason. The City of Glendale is developing a Vision Zero Action Plan with the stated goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries, which is the city’s own recognition that these crashes are a design problem, not just a driver problem.
Cyclists in Glendale
Glendale is still building out its bicycle network, and much of it runs on arterials shared with fast traffic or on painted lanes next to parked cars. Riders are hit by drivers turning across a bike lane, by doors opening from parked cars, and by drivers passing too closely. California requires drivers to give a cyclist at least three feet when passing (Vehicle Code 21760), and a cyclist on the road has the same rights and duties as a driver (Vehicle Code 21200).
Helmets. California requires a helmet only for riders under 18 (Vehicle Code 21212). An adult who was not wearing one has not broken any law. The insurer may still argue that a helmet would have reduced a head injury, which is a comparative fault question about damages, not about who caused the crash. It does not bar the claim, and it has nothing to do with injuries to the rest of your body.
Hit-and-run drivers
A driver who hits a pedestrian or cyclist and leaves has committed a crime. Vehicle Code 20001 requires a driver involved in a crash that injures anyone to stop, identify themselves, and render aid; leaving is punishable as a felony when there is injury. Vehicle Code 20002 covers property-damage-only crashes and is a misdemeanor. Glendale recorded 47 injury and fatal hit-and-run collisions in 2023.
Finding the driver matters, but your recovery does not depend on it. We canvass for video from the businesses along Brand, Broadway, and Central, from the Galleria and Americana garages, and from nearby homes, and we work with the Glendale Police Department’s investigation. If the driver is never identified, your own auto policy’s uninsured motorist coverage can pay for a hit-and-run, provided there was physical contact with you, the crash was reported to the police within 24 hours, and a sworn statement is given to your insurer within 30 days (Insurance Code 11580.2(b)). Those are short, technical deadlines, so call quickly.
Your own car insurance covers you as a pedestrian
People are surprised to learn that their auto policy protects them when they are not in a car. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage under Insurance Code 11580.2 applies to the named insured, their spouse, and relatives living in the same household “while occupants of a motor vehicle or otherwise.” If you were hit while walking or riding by a driver with no insurance, too little insurance, or no identity at all, your own UM/UIM coverage, or the policy of a parent or spouse you live with, is often the largest source of recovery in the case.
That coverage comes with its own two-year rule: within two years of the crash you must sue the driver, reach a written agreement with your insurer, or formally demand arbitration. Your insurer’s interests on a UM claim are adverse to yours even though you pay the premium, so treat that conversation the way you would treat the other driver’s adjuster and let us handle it.
Jaywalking, crosswalks, and comparative fault
Being outside a crosswalk does not end a pedestrian case in California. Since 2023, an officer may not even stop a pedestrian for crossing mid-block unless a reasonably careful person would see an immediate danger of a collision (Vehicle Code 21955(b)), and the statute says in the same breath that it does not relieve drivers of their duty of care. Under Civil Code 1714 everyone, drivers included, is responsible for injuries caused by their lack of ordinary care, and under the comparative fault rule of Li v. Yellow Cab Co. a pedestrian who was partly at fault recovers a reduced amount rather than nothing.
In a crosswalk, marked or unmarked, the rule is stronger: the driver must yield and must slow down and use all due care as they approach (Vehicle Code 21950). Every intersection has unmarked crosswalks at the corners even where nothing is painted. Where you were and what the signal showed are questions we answer with the city’s signal timing records, nearby video, and the damage pattern on the vehicle, not the driver’s memory of it.
Buses, road design, and the six-month deadline
If you were hit by a Glendale Beeline or LA Metro bus, or if a missing crosswalk, a hidden signal, or an unlit crossing contributed to the crash, a public entity may be responsible for a dangerous condition of its property (Government Code 835). Those claims must be presented in writing within six months (Government Code 911.2). Our government claims guide explains the steps. For everything else, the two-year deadline of Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 applies.
Pedestrian and cyclist injuries are usually serious: fractures, head injuries, and spinal injuries. Glendale’s emergency departments are Adventist Health Glendale, Glendale Memorial, and USC Verdugo Hills; the nearest trauma centers are LA General (Level I) and Huntington Hospital in Pasadena (Level II). A lawsuit, if one is needed, is filed in the North Central District at the Burbank Courthouse. We plan every demand around long-term care, not this month’s bills, and there is no fee unless we win.
