Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in Downey

What do Downey’s crash figures show for pedestrian accidents?

In the California Office of Traffic Safety rankings for 2023, where rank 1 is the worst in the group, Downey ranked 6th of 62 California cities its size for pedestrians killed or injured, with 54 victims. That is the worst tenth of the group. Child pedestrians under 15 ranked 14th of 62 with 5 victims, and pedestrians aged 65 and over ranked 16th of 62 with 7, both in the worse quarter. Across all road users the city ranked 3rd of 62, with 736 people killed and injured. These are rate-based rankings, weighted against an OTS population estimate of 111,891 and roughly 1,031,230 daily vehicle miles travelled, so the accurate statement is that Downey is worse than cities its size, not that it records California’s highest pedestrian counts.

One further figure belongs next to those. Downey ranked 3rd of 62 for collisions between 9:00pm and 2:59am, with 81, the worst twentieth of its group. Pedestrians are the road users that ranking hurts most, because the standard defence in a pedestrian case is that the driver could not see the person in time, and in a city with Downey’s darkness-hour record that defence will be made often. Downey also recorded 64 hit and run collisions, 10th worst of 62. A person on foot hit by a driver who does not stop has no liability insurer to pursue, so the claim normally turns on the uninsured motorist cover on a household auto policy, which follows you as a person even though you were walking.

Walk Downey, the City’s own Active Transportation Plan, is the document to ask for. It was completed in June 2021 as a $300,000 project funded in full by the state’s Active Transportation Program, and it is a walking and cycling plan rather than a general traffic study. It produced a toolkit identifying pedestrian and vehicular safety treatments at uncontrolled, stop-controlled and signalised intersections, which matters because an uncontrolled crossing, one with no signal and no stop sign, is where the right-of-way argument is fought hardest. The plan measured street and lane widths, counted traffic and recorded direct observations of motorist, pedestrian and cyclist behaviour, and it was built around connectivity to named destinations including Apollo Park, Furman Park, the Barbara J. Riley Community and Senior Center and Downtown Downey. Downey separately received $72,000 of Caltrans funding towards developing a Local Roadway Safety Plan, but we cannot confirm that one has been adopted and published, so this firm does not claim the city has a named high injury network.

Who you claim against follows who owns the ground. Downey Public Works reports maintaining 210 miles of streets inside 12.6 square miles, so a missing crossing marking, a failed pedestrian signal, an obstructed sight line or a sidewalk defect points at the City. California is a pure comparative fault state, so the usual argument that the person stepped out reduces a recovery rather than ending the claim.

Where is a Downey pedestrian accident case filed, and what are the deadlines?

A claim against a public entity, which includes the City, a Downey Link bus or a Metro vehicle, must be presented in writing within six months under Government Code section 911.2, filed with the Downey City Clerk at 11111 Brookshire Avenue, 3rd Floor, on (562) 904-7280, by post or in person, because the City states that claims will not be accepted electronically. A claim against a driver is generally subject to two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, and where both are in play the shorter deadline governs. A Downey pedestrian case is not filed in Downey. The Downey Courthouse at 7500 East Imperial Highway takes criminal and traffic matters only and has no civil division, so no civil injury claim is filed or heard there. Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A) requires every unlimited civil action for bodily injury, wrongful death or damage to personal property to be filed in the judicial district where the incident arose. Downey sits in the Southeast District, and the Court’s own Filing Court Locator returns a single answer for Downey addresses: the Norwalk Courthouse, 12720 Norwalk Boulevard.

More sits on the Downey personal injury page, and the wider practice on the Los Angeles pedestrian accident page. Downey’s other collision pages cover car, bicycle 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 Downey.