Bicycle Accident Lawyer in El Monte

What do El Monte’s crash figures show for bicycle accidents?

In the California Office of Traffic Safety rankings for 2023, where rank 1 is the worst in the group, El Monte ranked 6th of 62 cities in its population group for cyclists killed or injured, with 49 victims. That is near the worst end of the list, and it is a worse position than the city holds for total traffic victims, where it ranks 8th of 62 with 553, or for pedestrians, where it ranks 16th of 62 with 35. Cyclists under 15 ranked 19th of 62 with four victims. El Monte also ranks 1st of 62 for hit and run collisions, with 80, the worst rank in its size group statewide, and 10th of 62 for nighttime collisions with 59. These are rate based rankings, weighting counts against population and daily vehicle miles travelled, so they compare El Monte with similar cities rather than reporting statewide raw totals.

The City’s own record is more striking. El Monte’s Vision Zero Action Plan, published in February 2022 on collision data for 2008 to 2019, counted 1,543 collisions over those eleven years, of which 362 involved a bicyclist and 252 involved a pedestrian. Cyclists appeared in more reported collisions than people on foot, and together the two groups featured in 614 of them, which the plan records as 39.7 percent of the total. The plan also maps a high injury network and places the worst concentrations at Peck Road and Lower Azusa Road in the north of the city and Peck Road and Garvey Avenue in the south. Those are historic figures covering 2008 to 2019, not current counts.

A cyclist’s claim is usually decided on position and right of way rather than speed, and it turns on physical evidence: the damage pattern on the bike and on the vehicle, the lane markings, whether a bike lane was present or obstructed, and any camera covering the junction. That evidence disappears quickly, because a damaged bike is often repaired or thrown out within days, so it should be photographed and kept rather than fixed. Collisions on El Monte streets are investigated by the El Monte Police Department, which releases reports only through its Records Bureau, in person at the Police Lobby at 11333 Valley Boulevard, generally in about ten business days and at no charge. Where the road surface itself contributed, through a pothole, a drain grate, a utility cut, an abrupt lane drop or an obstructed bike lane, the defendant may be the City.

Where is an El Monte bicycle accident case filed, and what are the deadlines?

That changes the deadline as well as the defendant. Against a driver you have two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. Against a public entity, Government Code section 911.2 requires a written claim within six months, presented to the City Clerk’s Office at 11333 Valley Boulevard, City Hall E, on the form the Clerk’s Office posts, which asks for a diagram of the place of the accident and must be signed under penalty of perjury. California is a pure comparative fault state, so an argument about your lane position reduces a recovery in proportion rather than ending the claim. An unlimited civil injury case arising in El Monte is filed in the East District, at Pomona Courthouse South, 400 Civic Center Plaza, Pomona, because the El Monte Courthouse has no civil division.

There is more on the city on the El Monte personal injury page and more on the law on the wider Los Angeles bicycle accident practice page. El Monte’s other collision pages cover car, pedestrian and motorcycle claims. If your matter is a drug, device or product claim rather than a collision, Broukhim Legal PC also takes on mass tort and complex litigation work for people living in and around El Monte. This site also has a Spanish version, reachable from the Español link in the menu.