Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer

A crash on Highway 50 or Florin Road leaves you with a damaged car, medical appointments and an adjuster who wants a recorded statement. A Sacramento car accident lawyer can tell you what the claim involves before you say anything that shrinks it. Crashes like yours are common here. The City of Sacramento Vision Zero Action Plan update counts 332 people killed on city streets from 2015 through 2024, about one death every 11 days.

Most Sacramento car claims turn on three numbers. The first is the insurance coverage available to pay you. The second is the medical expense figure California law actually lets you claim. The third is the share of fault each driver carries. This page explains how each number works, which deadlines run beside them, and what records to gather now.

Christopher L. Kreeger was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1990, and his practice focuses on injury cases. Kreeger Law Firm works from its main office on Douglas Boulevard in Roseville and takes car crash cases across the Sacramento region. Car accidents make up most of the practice. Martindale-Hubbell gives Chris its AV Preeminent rating, and Super Lawyers named him to its list in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

If another driver hit you anywhere in Sacramento, call Kreeger Law Firm at (916) 782-8400 for a free consultation. You pay no attorney fee unless the firm recovers money for you, and you owe nothing for case costs if there is no recovery.

Learn About Your Options When Involved in a Car Accident

Why a Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer Starts With Three Numbers

At Kreeger Law Firm, the first review of a car crash claim looks for three figures before anything else. They are the coverage limit, the paid medical amount and the fault split. Each one comes from a different place. The policy sets the first, your health plan or provider sets the second, and the evidence sets the third.

A driver photographs vehicle damage after a car crash

Here is how they interact. Picture a driver who runs the red light at Florin Road and 24th Street while carrying only the state minimum policy. Your injuries might justify more than that policy pays. The questions then become whether your own policy adds coverage and whether anyone will argue you share the blame. No lawyer can forecast an outcome from a sketch like that, because each number depends on records that have to be reviewed.

Where Each Number Shows Up in Your Paperwork

The coverage number lives on the declarations page of each policy involved, including yours. The medical number lives in itemized ledgers and explanation of benefits forms, which show what a provider billed and what it accepted. The fault number starts with the collision report and grows with photos, video, witness names and vehicle data. Keep every page you receive, even the ones that look like junk mail.

How Adjusters Try to Move Each Number Early

Each early request from an insurer targets one of the three numbers. A broad medical authorization lets the adjuster search years of records for an older injury to blame. A recorded statement gives the adjuster your own words to argue a larger share of fault. A quick offer often arrives before anyone has checked your own policy for extra coverage. You can decline the statement and the broad authorization until you understand what each one does.

Insurance Coverage Questions for a Sacramento Auto Accident Attorney

What Our Clients Are Saying About Us

When I got in a car accident, I was referred to Chris Kreeger law firm. I couldn’t have gotten a better lawyer to work with. He took care of everything. He was personable, kind, and a yet very thorough and fought relentlessly for what I needed. I knew I was in good hands and he came through with everything I needed in the end.

I would highly recommend Chris to take care of you in hard times. It was a long road and thankfully I am slowly recovering. It was nice to know I had someone that had my back fighting for me and taking extra burden off me in hard times.

– Hiedi Frausto
My family and I were in a severe roll over car accident in January ’19. We all survived thankfully but I suffered a brain bleed and traumatic brain injury. A very trusted friend suggested I call Chris Kreeger and I am so glad I did. He is an amazingly talented attorney who fights for his clients.

He worked hard to make sure we were compensated appropriately for the injuries sustained and kept us fully informed through the entire process. I highly recommend Chris and his team!

– Kelli Yanak
I just wanted to say thank you once again. Your support and advice over the last year is something that my wife and I will always be thankful to you. You treated the two of us extremely well, and you were always willing to answer every question that came up.

– Client

California raised its minimum liability limits on January 1, 2025. Every driver now has to carry at least $30,000 for one injured person, $60,000 for everyone hurt in one crash and $15,000 for property damage. Lawyers write that as 30/60/15. The old minimum was 15/30/5.

A minimum policy has to cover every medical bill, lost paycheck and pain and suffering claim for one person within that $30,000. Serious injuries often cost more than that. A coverage review therefore looks past the at-fault driver’s policy to every other source that might pay, starting with your own. What those sources add up to depends on the policies themselves, which is why the declarations pages come first.

California’s 30/60/15 Minimum Liability Limits

The two injury numbers work together. If three people are hurt in one Highway 99 crash, they share the $60,000 total, and no one person can collect more than $30,000 from that policy. A driver with higher limits changes the math. Insurers often disclose limits before a lawsuit only with their own driver’s written permission, so ask for them in writing early.

When the Other Driver Carries More Than the Minimum

Some drivers buy limits well above the minimum, and some add an umbrella policy on top of their auto coverage. An umbrella policy sits above the auto limits and pays only after the auto carrier pays its full limit. A company vehicle may also bring the employer’s commercial policy into the claim. Each layer has its own adjuster and its own rules for notice.

Uber and Lyft Policies With Higher Limits

California Public Utilities Code section 5433 sets the insurance for app-based ride services. From the moment a driver accepts a trip until it ends, the company’s policy provides $1,000,000 in liability coverage. A driver who is logged in but waiting for a ride has lower coverage, starting at $50,000 per person. The app status at the moment of impact therefore matters in any Sacramento rideshare crash claim.

Your Own Coverage When the Other Driver Has Too Little or None

Uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance. It also applies in many hit-and-run accident claims when the other driver is never found. Underinsured motorist coverage applies when your own limit is higher than the other driver’s liability limit. It pays up to your limit, minus what the other driver’s carrier already paid. Your own insurer becomes the party on the other side of the table.

The Two-Year Rule in Insurance Code Section 11580.2

California Insurance Code section 11580.2 sets a separate clock for uninsured motorist claims. Within two years of the crash, you must sue the uninsured driver, reach an agreement on the amount, or start arbitration by written notice sent to your insurer by certified mail. Missing that step can cost you the coverage you paid for. The clock keeps running even while you are still in treatment.

A Single Neutral Arbitrator Decides UM Disputes

Your policy has to say that disagreements over an uninsured motorist claim go to arbitration. One neutral arbitrator hears the evidence and decides fault and damages instead of a jury. The hearing still needs medical records, testimony and exhibits. Preparing for it looks a lot like preparing for a trial.

Proposition 213 and Drivers Without Insurance

Voters approved Proposition 213 in 1996, and it now sits in Civil Code section 3333.4. An injured driver who had no required insurance loses the right to pain and suffering and other non-economic damages. A driver who caused his or her own injuries while impaired, and was convicted for it, faces the same bar. An uninsured owner still keeps the right to those damages if the driver who caused the crash was convicted of a DUI offense, and medical bills and lost wages stay recoverable in every case.

How a Sacramento Car Crash Attorney Values Your Medical Bills

Medical expenses set the floor for most injury claims, so the way California counts them matters. The controlling case is Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, a 2011 decision of the California Supreme Court. It caps past medical damages at what a provider accepted as full payment. The higher figure printed on the bill does not control.

A man rubs his neck while looking at two damaged cars

That rule surprises people who see a large hospital total arrive in the mail. An adjuster will ask for the payment ledger, not the bill. A careful claim starts from paid amounts and then documents the losses that Howell does not cap. Those include future care, lost earnings and pain and suffering, and their value depends on your records and your doctors’ opinions.

The Howell Rule and the Amount Actually Paid

The rule applies whether a private health plan, Medi-Cal or Medicare paid the bill. The insurer that paid usually holds a lien or reimbursement right against your recovery. That repayment comes out of the settlement, so it belongs in the math from the first day. A lawyer can often negotiate those liens down before the money is distributed. Ask each payer for a written lien amount before you sign any release.

Trauma Care at UC Davis Medical Center

Serious Sacramento crashes often send people to UC Davis Medical Center on Stockton Boulevard. It is the only Level I trauma center in inland Northern California and treats both adults and children from 33 counties. Trauma care produces long itemized bills from several departments. Those records also document the injury in detail, which helps when an insurer disputes how badly you were hurt.

Treating on a Medical Lien Without Using Health Insurance

Some people treat with doctors who agree to wait for payment from the settlement. In Pebley v. Santa Clara Organics, a 2018 California appellate decision, a patient who chose lien-based care was treated as uninsured for this purpose. The full bill can then serve as evidence of reasonable value. The defense can still challenge that value with its own billing witness.

Future Medical Care and Lost Earning Capacity

Howell limits past bills that someone already paid. It does not cap the cost of care you will need later. That future care has to be proven through your doctors and, in serious cases, a life care planner. Lost earning capacity works the same way, because it measures the income the injury will take from you in years ahead. Both categories need medical opinions that connect the future loss to this crash.

Life Care Plans for Brain and Spine Injuries

A life care plan lists every future surgery, therapy session, medication and home modification, with a cost for each. These plans matter most after head trauma, and a Sacramento traumatic brain injury claim often turns on one. Defense lawyers hire their own planners to cut the list. The plan that holds up is the one tied to treating doctors’ records.

Proof of Lost Income for Hourly, Salaried and Self-Employed Workers

Hourly workers prove lost wages with pay stubs and a supervisor’s letter listing missed shifts. Salaried workers often need records of used sick leave and vacation, because that time has value too. Self-employed people use tax returns, invoices and bank deposits to show what the business lost. Start collecting these records while the dates are fresh.

How California Juries Measure Pain and Suffering

California has no formula for pain and suffering. A jury decides the amount based on how the injury changed your daily life, and an insurer guesses at what a jury would do. Journals, photos and statements from family members show those changes better than a medical chart can. Nobody can tell you in advance what number a jury would choose.

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How a Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer Proves Fault Under Pure Comparative Negligence

California follows pure comparative fault. That rule dates to the 1975 Supreme Court decision in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. Your damages drop by your share of the blame, and your claim survives even if that share is large.

Insurers know this, so they argue percentages. Say a driver turns left across your lane on Watt Avenue while you travel a few miles over the limit. The adjuster may assign you part of the fault for speed, and every point of that assignment comes off your recovery. Evidence decides where that line falls, and how strong the evidence is varies from crash to crash.

Crash Reports From Sacramento Police and the CHP

Who writes the report depends on where the crash happened. Sacramento Police handle city streets, and the California Highway Patrol handles freeways and roads in unincorporated parts of the county. Cities such as Elk Grove, Citrus Heights and Folsom have their own departments. Each agency has its own request process and timeline. Write down the agency name and the report number the officer gives you at the scene.

What an Online Sacramento Police Collision Report Does Not Do

Sacramento Police take a report at the scene when someone is seriously hurt or killed, when a driver is impaired, or when a hit-and-run driver’s plate is known. Drivers in other crashes that meet the department’s criteria can file a report online. The department says online, counter and mail-in reports are not investigated and exist only for documentation and insurance. An online report does not settle fault, so the evidence has to come from somewhere else.

Requesting a Serious Injury Report From Sacramento Police

Officer-written reports usually cost $5 online and appear five to ten days after the crash. Reports for serious injuries, deaths and hit-and-runs do not appear online at all. Those require a written request to the Records Division at 5770 Freeport Boulevard, Suite 100, using the Sacramento Police Department report request page as a guide.

What the Written Request Must Include

The request should name the report type as traffic and give the report number if you have it. Add the date, the location and the names of the people involved. Include a license plate number when you know one. An attorney requesting the report also sends a release signed by an involved party.

Who Can Receive the Report Under Vehicle Code Section 20012

California Vehicle Code section 20012 limits collision reports to people with a proper interest. That group includes the drivers, injured people, vehicle owners and their representatives. Insurance companies and attorneys qualify when they act for an involved party. A stranger cannot simply buy a copy.

CHP Reports for Crashes on I-5, I-80, Highway 50 and Highway 99

The CHP releases its collision reports through a form called the CHP 190, filed with the area office that handled the crash. Freeway crashes inside Sacramento city limits still belong to the CHP. Reports on major injury crashes can take longer, because a specialized team may reconstruct the collision. That reconstruction often becomes the most detailed fault evidence in the case.

Evidence That Changes the Fault Percentage

Crash reports often rest on the drivers’ accounts at the scene, given while everyone was shaken. Physical evidence can confirm or contradict those accounts. Two kinds of evidence move fault percentages more than any other in Sacramento crashes. Both disappear if no one asks for them quickly. A short letter sent in the first week can save proof that a phone call months later cannot recover.

Video From Businesses, Buses and Traffic Cameras

Gas stations, shopping centers and apartment buildings along Stockton Boulevard and Fruitridge Road record their driveways and lots. Many systems record over old footage within days or weeks. A preservation letter asks the owner to save the clip before that happens. Delivery trucks and transit buses that passed the scene may carry cameras of their own.

Event Data Recorders Inside the Vehicles

Most newer cars carry an event data recorder that stores speed, braking and seatbelt use in the seconds before impact. California Vehicle Code section 9951 lets only the registered owner retrieve that data unless the owner consents or a court orders it. The other driver’s data may therefore require a formal request or a court order. Ask that both vehicles be preserved before either one goes to a salvage yard.

Sacramento Crash Locations an Auto Collision Attorney Investigates

The California Office of Traffic Safety counted 4,214 people killed or injured in City of Sacramento crashes in 2023. Among California’s 15 largest cities, Sacramento ranked worst for victims of alcohol-involved crashes and worst for speed-related crashes. Countywide, the total reached 11,407 people, and hit-and-run drivers fled 1,207 crashes that killed or injured someone.

Those numbers shape the questions a lawyer asks about your crash. A late-night collision near a bar district calls for receipts and toxicology results. A hit-and-run sends the claim toward your own uninsured motorist coverage. The table below collects the most recent public figures for the county and the city.

Sacramento Crash Data for 2023	City of Sacramento	Sacramento County
People killed or injured	4,214	11,407
Victims in alcohol-involved crashes	454	1,325
Speed-related injury crashes	745	2,458
Pedestrians killed or injured	297	653
Bicyclists killed or injured	237	529
Motorcyclists killed or injured	154	565
Hit-and-run injury crashes	581	1,207

Source. California Office of Traffic Safety crash rankings for 2023, built from Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System data.

Freeways With the Most Deaths Around Sacramento

A Sacramento Bee analysis of federal crash data, published in July 2024, ranked the county’s deadliest roads for the three years ending in 2022. Interstate 5 led with 28 deaths, followed by Highway 99 with 27, Highway 160 with 21 and Highway 50 with 20. Interstate 80 recorded 16 deaths over the same years. Freeway crashes at those speeds tend to involve several vehicles and several insurers.

City Streets on the Vision Zero Priority List

The city’s Vision Zero work names Marysville Boulevard, El Camino Avenue, Broadway and Stockton Boulevard, South Stockton Boulevard and Florin Road as top priority corridors. Between 2017 and 2021, crashes that killed or seriously injured someone in Sacramento rose by more than 50%. The city’s newer action plan adds that people walking and biking appear in nearly half of serious and fatal crashes, though they make up just over 1% of travel. A driver who hits someone on foot faces a separate set of rules covered in our Sacramento pedestrian accident guide.

Speed and Impairment in City Crash Records

The city’s crash dashboard covers 2013 through 2023. Unsafe speed appears in 15% of severe and fatal crashes, impaired driving in 13%, ignored signs or signals in 12% and failure to yield in 11%. Impairment changes the claim in two ways. It strengthens proof of fault, and it can support a claim for punitive damages in a drunk or distracted driving crash.

Filing Deadlines Your Sacramento Car Accident Attorney Tracks

California sets a two-year window for injury lawsuits under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, measured from the crash date. Property damage claims get three years under section 338. Those are the outer limits, and shorter clocks apply in some Sacramento crashes.

Sacramento County Superior Court handles these cases. In April 2026, its civil operations moved to the new Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Courthouse at 500 G Street in the Railyards. The court moved civil cases to electronic filing in January 2024. A missed deadline usually ends the claim no matter how strong it was. The safest practice is to set the calendar on the first day of the case.

Claims Against SacRT, the City of Sacramento or Caltrans

A crash with a Regional Transit bus, a city truck or a county vehicle brings government claim rules into play. The same rules apply when a dangerous road design or a broken signal helped cause the crash. You cannot simply file a lawsuit against a public agency. You first present a written claim, and the agency gets a chance to respond.

The Six-Month Claim Under Government Code Section 911.2

Government Code section 911.2 gives you six months from the crash to present an injury claim to the public agency. The claim names the date, place, injuries and amount demanded. Each agency has its own claim form and its own office for receiving it. A late claim requires a separate application, and the agency can deny that too.

Suing After the Agency Rejects Your Claim

Under Government Code section 945.6, you usually have six months from the date the agency mails a written rejection to file suit. If the agency never responds, a longer deadline applies. That rejection notice is easy to overlook in the mail. Keep it with your other crash records.

The 10-Day DMV Report Under Vehicle Code Section 16000

California Vehicle Code section 16000 requires every driver involved to report the crash to the DMV within 10 days. The duty applies when anyone is hurt or killed, or when property damage to any one person exceeds $1,000. The form is called the SR-1. A driver who skips it can lose the license, even when the other driver caused the crash.

When a Child Was Hurt in the Crash

A child’s own injury claim gets extra time, because Code of Civil Procedure section 352 holds the deadline until the child turns 18. A parent’s claim for the child’s medical bills does not get that extension. Any settlement for a child needs court approval through a petition to compromise a minor’s claim. A Sacramento judge reviews each of those petitions before the money is released.

Winning serious victories for our clients

$6,000,000 Motorcycle Accident
$5,000,000 Construction Site Accident
$3,200,000 Rear End Collision
$2,500,000 Apartment Fire Accident
$2,500,000 Apartment Fire with Severe Burns
$1,000,000 Rear End Freeway Collision
$1,000,000 Rideshare Head-On Collision
$1,000,000 Rideshare Accident with Back Injury
$400,000 Pedestrian Hit in Crosswalk
$300,000 Side Impact Collision
$300,000 Big Rig Rear-Ended Passenger Vehicle
$240,000 Motorcycle vs. Automobile

Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case depends on its own facts and the law that applies to it.

Questions Sacramento Drivers Ask an Auto Accident Lawyer

Most calls to the office start with the same handful of questions. People want to know what to tell the insurance company, who covers the medical bills right now, and what hiring a lawyer costs. Those questions usually come up in the first week, before any number in the claim is settled.

The answers below are general. Your policy, your injuries and the crash report change how each one applies to you. Chris reviews those details for free during a consultation, and nothing you share obligates you to hire the firm.

Do I Have to Talk to the Other Driver’s Adjuster?

Nothing requires you to record a statement for the other driver’s insurance company. Your own policy may require you to cooperate with your own insurer, which is a different obligation. Talk to a lawyer before you agree to either.

Who Pays My Medical Bills While the Claim Is Open?

Your health insurance, Medi-Cal or Medicare usually pays first and seeks repayment from any settlement later. Medical payments coverage on your auto policy can cover deductibles and copays regardless of fault. Doctors who treat on a lien wait for payment until the case resolves.

How Does Kreeger Law Firm Charge for a Car Accident Case?

The firm works on a contingency fee, typically one third of the recovery, and 25% when the client is a minor. The firm advances case costs, which come out of a recovery separately from the fee. If there is no recovery, you owe nothing for costs. The firm’s fee and cost answers explain the details.

Do I Need a Lawyer After a Minor Sacramento Crash?

A fender bender with no injury rarely needs a lawyer. A crash that sends you to a doctor, keeps you off work or involves a disputed fault story often does. A free consultation can tell you which category your crash falls into.

Call a Sacramento Car Accident Lawyer Who Has Practiced Since 1990

Every week after a crash, footage gets overwritten, vehicles get repaired and memories fade. The three numbers in your claim start forming the moment the adjuster opens a file. You can start protecting them today with one phone call.

Kreeger Law Firm offers a free consultation to anyone hurt in a Sacramento car crash. Chris Kreeger will review the crash report, the policies involved and your medical records, then explain your options in plain terms. You pay no attorney fee unless the firm recovers money for you, and you owe nothing for case costs if there is no recovery. Spanish-speaking staff can help with your call.

If you were hurt by another driver and want a Sacramento car accident lawyer to look at your claim, reach out through the firm’s contact page or call (916) 782-8400 today.

Other Injury Cases Chris Kreeger Handles in Sacramento

Kreeger Law Firm also represents people hurt in these Sacramento crashes and injury claims.

Catastrophic Injuries

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