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After a crash on Euclid, Foothill or the 10, you need two things: to know where to go, and to know your rights. This page is both. A local directory of the hospitals, police, court and offices that handle Upland crashes, followed by a plain-English guide to California car accident law from attorney Francisco Morales.
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Most of what decides a car accident claim happens in the first day or two. If you are reading this from the side of the road or the waiting room, these are the things that matter most.
Upland sits just over the county line in San Bernardino County, so some of the offices are different from the ones our Los Angeles County clients deal with. Here is who handles what.
The emergency room inside the city. Most Upland crash patients who go by ambulance or drive themselves end up here.
A designated trauma center just west of Upland. Paramedics may take serious injuries here directly.
If you skip the ER, get seen soon. A long gap before your first visit is the first thing an adjuster points to. No insurance? We can arrange care with providers who wait to be paid from the settlement.
Handles crashes on city streets: Euclid, Foothill, Mountain, Campus, Arrow and the rest. Request your traffic collision report from the department once it is finished.
Handles crashes on the freeways through the West Valley, including the 10 and the 210 where they cross Upland.
Required from every driver in a crash with any injury or death, or more than $1,000 in damage. It is separate from the police report and from your insurance claim.
An Upland injury lawsuit is filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court. Rancho Cucamonga is the West Valley courthouse; depending on the type of case, some civil matters are assigned to the San Bernardino Justice Center downtown instead.
If a city vehicle, a county vehicle, a public bus or train, or a dangerous road condition played a part, a written claim must usually be filed with that agency (the City of Upland, San Bernardino County, Caltrans for freeways, or the transit agency) within six months.
The courts’ own plain-language guides to small claims, civil lawsuits and court forms. Useful background even if you hire a lawyer.
Storage fees add up every day. Find out which yard has your car, get your belongings out, and get photos of the damage before anything moves.
In California an insurer cannot require you to use a particular shop. Get your own estimate if the adjuster’s looks thin. Hidden damage often shows up once the bumper comes off.
About 12 miles west, around 15 to 20 minutes by the 210 or Foothill Boulevard. Free consultation. We can also meet you at home or at the hospital in Upland.
Upland was laid out as a planned town in the 1880s, and the bones of that plan still shape its traffic. Euclid Avenue runs north toward the foothills as a wide, divided boulevard with a landscaped median. It is a beautiful street, and drivers treat it like a fast one. Foothill Boulevard, the old Route 66, crosses the city east to west. The 210 runs along the north side and the 10 along the south, and the arterials between them carry commuters to both.
We do not tell you these streets are dangerous to scare you. We tell you because the type of street shapes the evidence. On a wide road like Euclid, sight lines, signal timing and approach speed often decide fault, and that evidence has to be gathered early.
California is a fault state. The driver who caused the crash is responsible for your losses, and in practice their liability insurer pays. But fault is not all-or-nothing. Under the pure comparative fault rule the California Supreme Court adopted in Li v. Yellow Cab Co., you can recover even if you were partly to blame. If you were 20 percent at fault, your recovery is reduced by 20 percent. Adjusters know this rule well and often try to push more of the blame onto you.
Several policies can come into play:
One rule cuts the other way. Under Proposition 213 (Civil Code section 3333.4), if you were driving without insurance yourself, you generally cannot recover pain and suffering from the at-fault driver. You can still recover your medical bills, lost income and property damage.
There is no formula, and anyone quoting you a number in the first week is guessing. The law lets you recover the full harm the crash caused, which falls into two groups.
Economic damages are the losses you can add up with receipts: ambulance and ER bills, doctor and therapy visits, imaging, surgery, future treatment, prescriptions, lost wages and paid time off, lost earning capacity, and the repair or replacement of your car, plus towing, storage and a rental.
Non-economic damages cover what a receipt cannot: pain, anxiety, sleepless nights, fear of driving, scarring, and the loss of things you used to do. In a serious case this is often the largest part of the claim.
Your car deserves real attention too. Before law school, Francisco worked as a certified automotive service consultant. He knows how an estimate should read, when a car should be a total loss instead of a patch job, and when a repaired car has lost value (called diminished value) that the at-fault driver should pay for.
Damage to your car and other property has a three-year deadline (CCP § 338), but it is usually handled together with the injury claim. These deadlines are the outer limits. Evidence moves much faster: business cameras along Foothill and Euclid often record over themselves within days or weeks, and a car that gets repaired or scrapped takes its crash data with it.
| Issue | What it means for an Upland crash |
|---|---|
| Police | Upland Police on city streets; CHP Rancho Cucamonga Area on the 10 and the 210. |
| Court | San Bernardino County Superior Court, not Los Angeles. The West Valley courthouse is in Rancho Cucamonga. |
| Public claims | Claims go to the City of Upland, San Bernardino County, Caltrans or the transit agency involved. Same six-month rule. |
| The law | No change. Fault, damages, insurance rules and deadlines are set by state law and are the same in every county. |
A lot of the firms that show up when you search for an Upland car accident lawyer are statewide operations with no office in the area. That is not a crime, but it shows. Their pages could be about any city, and their clients end up talking to a case manager they have never met.
Our office is in downtown San Dimas, about 15 to 20 minutes from Upland. When you call, you talk directly with attorney Francisco Morales, in English or Spanish. He knows the roads because he grew up in the area, in West Covina, and he can meet you in Upland when that is easier than coming to us.
There is no fee unless we win. We work on contingency, meaning the fee is a percentage of the recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe no attorney’s fee.
When you call, you get Francisco. He answers his own phone and handles your case himself from start to finish.
Francisco is the founding attorney of Morales Law Firm. He grew up in West Covina, studied at UCLA, and earned his law degree at Loyola Law School. Before law school he worked as a certified automotive service consultant, which gives him an unusual eye for repair estimates, total-loss valuations and the damage patterns that show how a crash happened.
He is fully bilingual and represents clients in English or Spanish. Read more about Francisco.
A few details is enough. Francisco will call you back, in English or Spanish. No cost and no obligation.
151 W. Bonita Ave., San Dimas, CA 91773
(626) 521-5402
From Upland, take the 210 west to San Dimas, or Foothill Boulevard west through Claremont and La Verne. Free parking downtown.
Get directionsThe Upland Police Department, 1499 W. 13th St., handles crashes on city streets. Crashes on the 10 or the 210 are handled by the CHP Rancho Cucamonga Area office. We request the report for you.
San Antonio Regional Hospital at 999 San Bernardino Rd. has the emergency room inside the city. Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, a designated trauma center, is just to the west.
In San Bernardino County Superior Court. The West Valley courthouse is in Rancho Cucamonga on Haven Avenue, and some civil cases are assigned to the San Bernardino Justice Center. Most cases settle without a trial.
Two years to file a personal injury lawsuit and three years for property damage. If a public agency or a dangerous road is involved, a written claim is usually due within six months.
Yes, by filing an SR-1 within 10 days if anyone was injured or killed or the damage is more than $1,000. The police report does not count as your SR-1.
Yes. California uses pure comparative fault, so your compensation is reduced by your share of the fault, not eliminated.
Look to your own policy. Uninsured motorist coverage can pay for your injuries, and MedPay can help with medical bills. We check your declarations page on the first call.
No. In California you can choose where your car is repaired. If the insurer’s estimate seems low, get your own. We help with repairs, rentals, total-loss values and diminished value.
Not about fault or your injuries, and not on a recorded line. You are not required to give them a statement. Refer them to your lawyer.
Nothing up front. We work on contingency, so the fee comes out of the recovery. If we do not win, you owe no attorney’s fee. The consultation is free.
About 12 miles, roughly 15 to 20 minutes west in downtown San Dimas. We also meet clients at home or in the hospital.
Yes. Francisco Morales is bilingual and can handle your whole case in Spanish. Hablamos español.
Free consultation, in English or Spanish. No fee unless we win. Two years to file, but the evidence goes much sooner.