Pacoima Car Accident Lawyer

Pacoima Personal Injury & Accident Lawyer

Injured in a pacoima accident? Here is what to know.

• Yaghmai Law Firm represents accident victims throughout Pacoima and the surrounding San Fernando Valley, including Pacoima proper, Hansen Dam area, Lake View Terrace border.
• We handle car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle injury cases on local arterials like Van Nuys Blvd, Glenoaks Blvd, Foothill Blvd and on the I-5 Golden State Freeway, I-210 Foothill Freeway, SR-118 Ronald Reagan Freeway.
• California gives you two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim under CCP section 335.1. Government-entity claims require a six-month notice under Government Code section 911.2.
• No fee unless we recover compensation. Free case review.
• Call or text (888) 800-6731 or submit your case online.

Pacoima is a northeast-Valley Los Angeles County neighborhood. Personal injury cases out of Pacoima get filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown, and the recurring case patterns concentrate on I-5/I-210/SR-118 stack + Spanish-language access. Houtan Yaghmai handles each file personally. Pacoima sits in the northeast San Fernando Valley where Van Nuys Boulevard is part of LADOT’s Vision Zero High Injury Network – LADOT data documents 24 severe or fatal collisions in a 1.5-mile section of Van Nuys Blvd between 2009 and 2019. Pacoima’s pedestrian and bicycle collision counts (172 and 132 respectively over a one-year LADOT study window) and a 37.4-percent-higher-than-average traffic volume on arterials drive a disproportionate share of catastrophic-injury cases. Spanish-language case handling is a recurring intake factor.

The firm handles Pacoima matters on a contingency-fee basis: no fee unless we recover compensation. Pacoima clients meet by phone, video, or at home or hospital – we focus on I-5/I-210/SR-118 stack + Spanish-language access.

Recent CHP-Reported Incidents in Pacoima

The California Highway Patrol publishes incident reports for collisions and traffic incidents in and around Pacoima. The recent CHP-reported incidents below are within the Pacoima bounding box used by the CHP's public incident feed. This is not a substitute for a police report on your specific collision, but it shows the day-to-day pattern of incidents in the neighborhood.

Types of Pacoima Personal Injury Cases We Handle

The Pacoima accident cases we handle most often have a recognizable pattern. These are the recurring fact patterns we see, with the corridors and intersections that drive each one:

• I-5 / I-210 / SR-118 Freeway Stack Crashes. Pacoima sits between the I-5, I-210, and SR-118 freeways. The interchange between I-5 and the I-210 at the eastern edge of the neighborhood is one of the busiest stacks in the SFV. Lane-shift confusion, short merge zones, and weave-and-merge traffic at the Sutter Ave, Brand Blvd, and Polk St off-ramps produce multi-vehicle chain-reaction collisions.
• Van Nuys Boulevard Commercial-Corridor Pedestrian Crashes. Van Nuys Blvd is the main north-south commercial spine through Pacoima. Bus stops, parked cars blocking sight lines, and high pedestrian volume near Filmore, Pierce, Van Nuys / Brand, and Glenoaks produce a recurring pedestrian-strike pattern. Crosswalk collisions concentrate during morning school commute and evening shopping hours.
• Glenoaks Boulevard and Foothill Boulevard Truck Routes. Glenoaks Blvd and Foothill Blvd carry significant commercial truck traffic between the I-5, I-210, and the warehouse pockets along Branford Ave and Arleta Ave. Container-truck and aggregate-truck collisions with passenger vehicles at signalized intersections are a recurring serious-injury case pattern.
• Hansen Dam Recreation Area Cyclist and Pedestrian Crashes. Hansen Dam at the northeast corner of Pacoima draws weekend recreation traffic. Cyclists, equestrians, and pedestrians interact with vehicles at the Foothill / Osborne and Foothill / Filmore crossings in ways that produce right-hook and left-turn-against collisions, especially on weekend mornings.
• Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Paxton Street Intersection Crashes. Laurel Canyon Blvd through Pacoima carries commuter traffic from the I-5 south to the Cahuenga Pass. Left-turn and red-light-running collisions at the Paxton St, Roscoe Blvd, and Sherman Way signals are a recurring pattern, particularly during evening commute when westbound drivers face direct sun.
• Filmore Street and Pierce Street School-Commute Crashes. Filmore St and Pierce St serve Pacoima Middle School, Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, and several elementary schools. Vehicles dropping off students and the bus stops along the Van Nuys Blvd corridor produce a distinct school-hour collision pattern: low-speed but high-frequency, and frequently involving minor pedestrian injuries.

Why Pacoima Residents Choose Yaghmai Law Firm

Pacoima clients sometimes wait too long to call a lawyer because they assume the language barrier or the neighborhood will mean a smaller recovery; neither is true, LA juries award based on documented injury and clear liability, and we make sure the documentation is built right. Houtan personally handles every Pacoima file from intake through resolution; the firm operates remotely so Pacoima clients never travel to a downtown office.

Compensation Available in Pacoima Personal Injury Cases

For Pacoima personal injury cases, recoverable damages include economic categories (past and future medical bills, lost wages and earning capacity, property damage) and non-economic categories (pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life). The case mix in Pacoima often involves I-5/I-210/SR-118 stack, Van Nuys Blvd, Foothill Blvd.

Pacoima cases are filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse at 111 N. Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles — the consolidated venue for all Los Angeles County unlimited civil personal injury filings under LASC Local Rule 2.3 since the January 8, 2024 phaseout of the Spring Street Personal Injury Hub. The drive from Pacoima to Stanley Mosk is roughly 22 miles. Pacoima is a working-class, predominantly Latino northeast-SFV neighborhood with high commercial-vehicle traffic between the I-5, I-210, and SR-118. Punitive damages may be available against grossly negligent or intoxicated defendants under Civil Code section 3294, and uninsured/underinsured-motorist (UM/UIM) coverage under Insurance Code section 11580.2 frequently becomes the practical source of recovery in hit-and-run and underinsured-defendant collisions.

Pacoima filings run on the CCP section 335.1 two-year statute and the Government Code section 911.2 six-month notice for any public-entity defendant (Caltrans, City of LA, LA Metro). The recurring issue in Pacoima work is Spanish-language case-handling.

California Law Applicable in Pacoima Cases

Pacoima personal injury cases run under California pure comparative-fault doctrine (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804) – even partial fault still allows recovery, reduced by the percentage assigned.

Statutes and rules that recur in Pacoima cases:

• CCP section 335.1 — two-year statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death claims.
• Government Code section 911.2 — six-month deadline to present a Government Claims Act notice to a public entity (Caltrans, City of LA, LA Metro, etc.) before filing suit.
• CVC sections 22107, 22350, 21703 — safe-lane-change, basic-speed, and following-distance rules; violations support negligence-per-se framing.
• CVC sections 20001 / 20002 — hit-and-run reporting requirements.
• CVC section 16000 — SR-1 reporting to DMV within 10 days of any injury or property-damage-over-$1,000 collision.
• Insurance Code section 11580.2 — UM/UIM coverage available on standard California auto policies.
• Civil Code section 3294 — punitive damages against grossly negligent, intoxicated, or otherwise egregiously culpable defendants.
• Proposition 213 — uninsured drivers may be limited in recovering non-economic damages (Civil Code section 3333.4).

Local Driving Routes and Hazards in Pacoima

Pacoima's car-accident and pedestrian-injury geography is dominated by Van Nuys Boulevard (LADOT Vision Zero High Injury Network), San Fernando Road, Glenoaks Boulevard, and the I-5 / I-210 interface. Four corridors recur in our intake.

• Van Nuys Boulevard between Glenoaks and Laurel Canyon. Van Nuys Blvd in Pacoima is on LADOT's Vision Zero High Injury Network – LADOT documented 24 severe or fatal collisions in a 1.5-mile section between 2009 and 2019. A January 2026 fatal pedestrian hit-and-run east of Glenoaks Boulevard is part of the recurring pattern. We pull LADOT signal-timing records, LADOT's most recent collision-history report for the corridor (notice element), and any operative city traffic-camera footage.
• San Fernando Road through the historic commercial corridor. San Fernando Rd parallels the I-5 / I-210 freeway corridor through Pacoima and carries heavy commercial and Metrolink rail-adjacent traffic. Left-turn collisions at the Foothill Blvd / San Fernando Rd / SR-118 transition and pedestrian collisions at the rail-crossing approaches are recurring patterns. We pull LADOT signal records and any Metrolink/SCRRA crossing-protection records when the case involves a rail-adjacent collision.
• Glenoaks Boulevard between Branford and Van Nuys. Glenoaks Blvd carries cross-Pacoima commuter traffic. Left-turn collisions at the Glenoaks / Van Nuys, Glenoaks / Branford, and Glenoaks / Filmore signals are recurring patterns. LADOT signal-timing records and surrounding commercial CCTV (Hansen Dam Recreation Center, the Whiteman Airport approach, the Las Palmas Park area) are first-pull documents.
• I-5 / I-210 / SR-118 Interchange at the Pacoima / San Fernando border. The I-5 / I-210 / SR-118 split at the Pacoima / San Fernando border carries a heavy mix of commercial, commuter, and Antelope Valley-bound traffic. Multi-vehicle and commercial-truck crashes on the eastbound 210 transitions and the I-5 / SR-118 connector are recurring. We send a spoliation letter the same week of intake for any commercial-vehicle case.

Why Yaghmai Law Firm for Your Pacoima Case

Pacoima personal injury cases run on tight evidence-preservation windows. The firm caps active caseload and Houtan personally handles every Pacoima file from intake through resolution.

“Most people do not know what a case is worth or how long it takes. That is normal, and it is the first thing we talk through.”

— Houtan Yaghmai, Esq., President & Managing Attorney

For Pacoima accident victims: call or text (888) 800-6731 or submit your case online. The initial review is free, the firm operates remotely, and the fee is contingency only.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where will my Pacoima car accident case be filed?

Pacoima is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles in LA County. Unlimited civil personal injury cases file at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse at 111 N. Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles, the consolidated PI venue under LASC Local Rule 2.3 since the 2024-01-08 PI Hub phaseout. From Pacoima the drive is roughly 22 miles south via the I-5 and I-110.

My crash happened on the I-5 / I-210 stack. Does Caltrans get sued?

Both the I-5 and the I-210 are Caltrans-maintained interstates. A dangerous-condition-of-public-property claim against Caltrans (for signage, striping, or pavement defects) requires a six-month Government Claims Act notice under Government Code section 911.2 before any lawsuit can be filed. We open that claim within days of taking these cases. Ordinary driver-on-driver liability on the freeways is pursued against the at-fault driver’s insurer directly.

I do not speak English at home. Can you still represent me?

Yes. Houtan Yaghmai speaks English, French, and Persian fluently. We retain a Spanish interpreter for Spanish-speaking clients (interpreter-assisted, not Houtan speaking Spanish directly) and routinely handle intake, deposition prep, and trial through interpreter services for clients who speak Spanish, Armenian, Tagalog, or other languages. Most of our Pacoima intake meetings happen by phone or video with translation.

Will a Stanley Mosk jury be fair to a Pacoima plaintiff?

Yes. Stanley Mosk draws jurors from across LA County, and the jury pool reflects the county’s full demographic range. LA County juries have a long track record of fair and sometimes generous awards for working-class plaintiffs with clear liability and credible medical records. Cultural-competency and language-access issues are recognized by the court and accommodated.

I was hit on Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima – is this corridor part of LA's Vision Zero High Injury Network?

Yes. LADOT's Vision Zero program designates the Van Nuys Boulevard corridor in Pacoima as part of the High Injury Network – LADOT documented 24 severe or fatal collisions in a 1.5-mile section of Van Nuys Blvd between 2009 and 2019, with a January 2026 fatal pedestrian hit-and-run east of Glenoaks Boulevard as a recent example. Vision Zero designation goes directly to the city's notice on any dangerous-condition-of-public-property claim under Government Code 835 – subject to the 6-month presentation deadline under Gov Code 911.2. We pull LADOT's Vision Zero corridor documentation, the collision-history report for the specific block, and any operative city traffic-camera footage.

Do you handle Pacoima car accident and pedestrian cases in Spanish?

Yes. Yaghmai Law Firm handles Pacoima cases in Spanish via professional certified interpreter throughout the matter – intake call, medical-provider coordination, deposition, mediation, and trial if necessary. (Houtan Yaghmai's directly-spoken languages are English, French, and Persian per his firm bio; Spanish is handled exclusively via certified interpreter.) All key correspondence and client-document signatures are translated. The contingency-fee retainer agreement is available in Spanish on request. We've handled Pacoima cases including Van Nuys Blvd Vision Zero High Injury Network collisions and Glenoaks Boulevard left-turn crashes with Spanish-speaking clients without ever charging interpretation costs against the client's recovery.

Related Practice Areas

These are the personal injury practice areas the firm handles most often for clients in the San Fernando Valley:

• Car Accident Lawyer
• Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
• Pedestrian Accident Attorney
• Bicycle Accident Lawyer
• Brain Injury Lawyer
• Wrongful Death Attorney

Reviewed by Houtan Yaghmai, Esq., President & Managing Attorney. Admitted to practice law in California (State Bar No. 298487). He represents personal injury and immigration clients statewide.

Last updated: May 30, 2026.