Covina Car Accident Lawyer

Most people who call me after a Covina crash are not sure they need a lawyer. They have a sore neck, a car that is sitting at a tow yard, and a voicemail from an adjuster who sounds friendly. They want to know three things: who pays, how long it takes, and whether they are about to make a mistake. This page answers those questions as honestly as I can, with the streets, the police departments, the hospitals and the courthouse that actually apply to Covina.

If you would rather just talk it through, call me at (626) 521-5402. You will talk to me, the attorney, not an intake center, and the call is free.

The short version

Why Covina crashes happen where they do

Covina does not have a freeway running through the middle of town. The 210 sits just to the north and the 10 just to the south, and almost everyone heading for those on-ramps uses the same handful of surface streets. That is why so many of the Covina crashes we see happen on arterials at commuter speed rather than on the freeway itself.

Grand Avenue

Grand is the north-south road that links the 210 in Glendora with the 10 in West Covina, and it runs along the east side of Covina. It is wide, it moves fast between signals, and its crossings at Arrow Highway, Covina Boulevard and Badillo Street see a steady mix of rear-end and left-turn collisions. Motorcyclists are especially exposed here, because drivers turning left across several lanes misjudge how fast a bike is approaching.

Citrus Avenue and downtown

Citrus is the heart of Covina. Through downtown it is lined with storefronts, restaurants and parked cars, and it crosses the Metrolink tracks near the Covina station. That combination produces a different kind of crash: doors opened into traffic, cars backing out of spaces, pedestrians stepping out between parked vehicles, and drivers stopped short at the rail crossing. Farther north, Citrus passes Covina High School, where school-hour traffic adds its own pressure.

Azusa Avenue and Arrow Highway

Azusa Avenue carries heavy through-traffic on the west side of town, and Arrow Highway runs east-west across the whole city toward San Dimas and Irwindale. Where they meet, and at other big crossings along Arrow, the classic crash is the red-light T-bone or the unprotected left turn. Arrow also carries a lot of work trucks and vans, which often means a commercial policy with more coverage.

San Bernardino Road, Badillo Street and Covina Boulevard

San Bernardino Road runs past Inter-Community Hospital, with ambulances and visitors hunting for parking. Badillo and Covina Boulevard are long and straight, which invites speed, and speed is what turns a fender-bender into a real injury.

“The insurance company does not pay for what happened to you. It pays for what you can prove happened to you. Almost everything we do in the first two weeks is about closing that gap.”

Francisco Morales

What to do after a car accident in Covina

Here is the order I would want a family member to follow. If you are reading this days later, start wherever you are.

1. Get safe and call 911 if anyone is hurt. If the cars can move and nobody is injured, pull out of the travel lanes. On a busy street like Grand or Azusa, a second crash is a real risk.
2. Get the report number. Ask the responding officer for their name, agency and the report number. If no officer came, you can still report the collision to Covina PD afterward.
3. Take photos before anything moves. Both cars from every corner, the plates, the traffic signal, skid marks, debris, the street signs and your injuries. Note any business with a camera facing the street.
4. Swap information and find witnesses. Driver’s license, insurance card, phone number. Ask anyone who stopped for a name and number. Witnesses are hard to find later.
5. Get checked out the same day or the next. Inter-Community Hospital on San Bernardino Road has an emergency room inside the city, and Queen of the Valley in West Covina is close by. Urgent care is fine for lighter injuries. What matters is that the visit happens and that you tell the doctor everything that hurts.
6. File the DMV SR-1 within 10 days if anyone was hurt or killed, or if property damage is over $1,000. This is your responsibility, separate from any police report.
7. Tell your own insurer the basic facts. Your policy requires it. Keep it short and factual.
8. Do not give the other insurer a recorded statement. You are not required to. Tell them your attorney will be in touch, and then call one.

For a printable version of these steps and more detail on the first few days, see our car accident help page.

Who writes the report, and why it matters

The agency that responds depends on exactly where you were. Crashes on Covina’s city streets are handled by the Covina Police Department, headquartered on North Citrus Avenue. Anything on the 10 or the 210 belongs to the California Highway Patrol’s Baldwin Park Area. And because Covina’s borders zigzag, some crashes that feel like they happened in Covina were actually in West Covina, Glendora, Irwindale or an unincorporated county area like Charter Oak, which is patrolled by the L.A. County Sheriff rather than Covina PD.

That matters for two reasons. First, each agency has its own process and timeline for releasing reports, and you cannot request the right report until you know who wrote it. Second, adjusters lean hard on the officer’s opinion of fault. If the report gets something wrong, such as which light was green, the time to answer it is early, with photos, witnesses and any video we can find before it is recorded over.

How fault and insurance work in California

California is an at-fault state. The driver who caused the crash, through their insurance, pays for the harm. There is no no-fault system that forces you to go through your own policy first, although your own coverage can still help, as explained below.

Shared fault does not end your claim

California uses pure comparative fault, a rule that goes back to the state Supreme Court’s decision in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. If you were 20 percent responsible, for example because you were going a little over the limit, you can still recover 80 percent of your damages. Adjusters love to assign a share of the blame because every percentage point comes straight off what they pay. Part of my job is pushing back on fault numbers that the evidence does not support.

Whose insurance pays

“Before law school I wrote repair estimates for a living. When an adjuster tells you the frame damage is cosmetic, or that your car is worth less than it is, I can read the estimate the same way they do.”

Francisco Morales, former certified automotive service consultant

Your car, the body shop, and the total loss fight

The property damage claim usually comes first, and it is where a lot of people get worn down before their injury claim even starts. A few things worth knowing:

• You choose the shop. California law does not let an insurer require you to use a particular repair shop. They can recommend one, but the choice is yours.
• Parts matter. Estimates often use aftermarket or used parts. They are supposed to be of like kind and quality, and the estimate should say what is being used. If something looks off, ask.
• Total loss value is negotiable. The offer should be based on comparable vehicles in your area, along with the sales tax and fees it takes to replace yours. Recent maintenance, new tires and low mileage are all worth raising.
• Diminished value and loss of use. Against the at-fault driver’s insurer, you can often claim the drop in your car’s resale value after a repair, and a rental or the value of your lost use while the car is down.

Because I spent years on the service side of the auto business, I can usually tell quickly whether a repair estimate or a total loss valuation is fair, and getting the car settled takes pressure off while you recover.

What a Covina car accident claim can cover

I will not put a dollar figure on a page like this, because every case turns on its own facts and no honest lawyer can value your claim without seeing your records. What I can tell you is what California law allows you to recover:

• Medical expenses, past and future: the ER, imaging, follow-up visits, physical therapy, chiropractic care, injections, surgery if it comes to that.
• Lost income, including time off for appointments, and lost earning capacity if you cannot go back to the same kind of work.
• Pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. For many people this is the largest part of the claim, and it is the part insurers fight hardest.
• Property damage, rental or loss of use, and diminished value.
• Wrongful death damages for families who lose someone. See our wrongful death page.

If you are wondering whether the first offer you received is fair, read should you accept the first settlement offer, or use our case value guide.

Deadlines you cannot miss

These are the general rules. Special situations, like an injured child or a claim against your own UM coverage, have their own timelines, so call before you assume you are out of time.

If your Covina case has to be filed

Most car accident cases settle without a lawsuit. When one does not, a Covina injury case is filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, East District, and is usually heard at the Pomona Courthouse South at 400 Civic Center Plaza in Pomona. That is a short drive from our San Dimas office, and it is a courthouse where we regularly appear. You can look up general court information on the L.A. Superior Court website or the state’s California Courts self-help center.

Filing does not mean you are headed to trial. It puts the insurer on a court calendar and its driver under oath, and that is often what finally moves an offer. For a realistic sense of timing, see how long a personal injury case takes in California.

How we handle a Covina car accident case

1. A free conversation with me. By phone, at our office, or at your home or hospital room if you cannot get around. In English or Spanish.
2. We take the insurance calls. Once you hire us, adjusters talk to us, not you. We open every available claim, including your own UM and MedPay.
3. We lock down the evidence. Police report, photos, witness statements, and preservation letters to businesses that may have video.
4. You get treated. We help you find doctors, including ones who will wait to be paid from the settlement if you do not have health insurance.
5. We sort out the car. Repair or total loss, rental, diminished value. This is where my background in auto service pays off.
6. We build the demand. When treatment is done or the picture is clear, we put together the records, bills and your story and make a demand.
7. We negotiate, and file if we have to. If the offer is not fair, we file in Pomona and keep going.

You pay no fee unless we recover money for you. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, and we explain it in writing before you sign anything.

Who you will be working with

Francisco J. Morales, founding attorney

I grew up in West Covina, a few minutes from Covina, and I have spent my life in the San Gabriel Valley. I went to UCLA and Loyola Law School, and before law school I worked as a certified automotive service consultant. I founded Morales Law Firm in San Dimas to represent people hurt in crashes, and I handle the cases myself.

• You talk directly with me, in English or Spanish
• Member of CAALA, CAOC, MABA, LACBA, AAJ and OCTLA
• No fee unless we win

More about Francisco

Our office, a short drive from Covina

We are at 151 W. Bonita Ave. in downtown San Dimas, east of Covina by way of Arrow Highway, Badillo Street or the 210. If getting here is hard, we will come to you.

Covina car accident questions

More help for Covina drivers