The City of San Fernando is its own city, not a Los Angeles neighborhood, and that fact shapes how a claim here is built. It is a compact grid with its own police department, ringed by the 5, the 118 and the 210, and crossed by streets carrying far more traffic than their width suggests. Truman Street, Maclay Avenue, Glenoaks Boulevard and San Fernando Road move commuters, delivery trucks and local shoppers through the same intersections, and the collisions that follow tend to involve a turn across traffic, a driver leaving a parking space, or someone crossing mid-block.
Manoukian Law Firm is about twenty minutes southwest, on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth. Manoukian Law Firm takes each case from the first call through resolution and prepares every file as though it will be tried. An attorney is on the case from the first call, and the file stays with the firm from start to finish.
What to do after an injury in San Fernando
- Get examined the same day. A gap before the first medical visit is used later to question whether the injury came from the crash.
- Confirm which agency responded, San Fernando Police or CHP, and write down the report number before you leave.
- Photograph vehicle positions, debris, lane markings, signal phases and the storefronts around the intersection.
- Ask in writing that week for any video to be preserved. Small businesses often overwrite their systems within days.
- Collect witness names and phone numbers at the scene rather than hoping the report captured them.
- If a city vehicle, a public agency or a dangerous street condition was involved, note it immediately. The six-month claim rule moves quickly.
- File a DMV form SR-1 within ten days if anyone was injured or property damage exceeded $1,000, as Vehicle Code 16000 requires.
- Speak with an attorney before giving a recorded statement to any insurance company.
Car accidents in San Fernando
The City of San Fernando sits inside the triangle formed by the 5, the 118 and the 210, and most of its serious collisions are tied to those freeways: rear-end crashes in slowing traffic at the ramps, side-impact collisions where Maclay Avenue, Glenoaks Boulevard and San Fernando Road meet the freeway exits, and crashes where commuters cut through the city grid to avoid the interchange. Inside the city, Truman Street and San Fernando Road run beside the Metrolink tracks and carry a mix of local traffic, buses and trucks through a small grid with closely spaced signals.
Because San Fernando is its own city, a surface-street crash is reported by the San Fernando Police Department, while a crash on the freeways or on the Los Angeles side of the boundary (Sylmar, Pacoima and Mission Hills are Los Angeles) is reported by CHP or the LAPD Mission Division. Getting the right report from the right agency is the first step, and the firm requests it immediately. Treatment usually begins at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, and the medical record from those first weeks carries the claim. The car accident page explains how the claim is valued from there. In one of the firm’s collision cases, the other side valued the client’s injuries at $5,000 to $10,000 and called the crash a soft impact; the client had been the third car struck in a chain-reaction collision. The firm filed suit and recovered $275,000. The first offer is a starting point, not a verdict on what the case is worth.
Truck and commercial vehicle crashes in San Fernando
San Fernando Road and the 5 are working truck routes, with industrial and warehouse blocks along the rail corridor, landfill and aggregate traffic heading toward Sylmar, and delivery traffic to every business on Maclay and Truman. Searches for a truck accident lawyer in San Fernando are common for a reason. When the other vehicle is a big rig, a box truck, a dump truck or a company van, the case involves the employer and the vehicle owner as well as the driver, larger commercial policies, and records that have to be preserved in writing within days. The San Fernando Valley truck accident page explains how the firm handles those cases, and the firm has handled claims against commercial trucking and bus companies.
Other injury cases we handle in San Fernando
Car accident claims are the core of the work here. Intersection collisions on Truman and Maclay usually come down to signal timing, sight lines and who entered first, and those details fade fast. California follows pure comparative negligence after Li v. Yellow Cab, so even a driver who carries part of the responsibility can recover, reduced by that share.
Truck and delivery traffic uses San Fernando Road and the industrial blocks along it constantly. A truck accident case brings in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations: hours of service limits, maintenance and inspection records, and electronic logging data that a carrier is only required to keep for a limited period. A written preservation demand goes out early so the information survives.
The city’s downtown blocks are walkable, and people are hurt crossing them. Pedestrian accident cases rest on Vehicle Code 21950, which requires drivers to yield in marked and unmarked crosswalks, and an unmarked crosswalk exists at many intersections with no paint at all. Bicycle accident claims follow Vehicle Code 21200, which gives riders the rights and duties of drivers, and Vehicle Code 21760, the three-foot passing rule. Motorcycle accident claims begin with the fact that lane splitting is lawful under Vehicle Code 21658.1.
Away from traffic, slip and fall claims in the markets and parking lots along Truman are decided on notice: whether the owner knew or should have known about the hazard, and whether it was repaired or warned about, under the duty of care described in Rowland v. Christian. Dog bite claims work differently from most injury cases, because Civil Code 3342 makes an owner strictly liable when the person bitten was lawfully in a public or private place. A bite is reported to the local health officer and the dog is generally quarantined for ten days.
Where San Fernando cases are handled
San Fernando has its own police force. Collisions on city streets are generally reported by the San Fernando Police Department rather than the LAPD, a difference worth knowing when you request a report. Crashes on the 5, the 118 and the 210 are usually investigated by the California Highway Patrol.
Emergency care generally means Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in nearby Mission Hills. Keep every discharge instruction, imaging order and billing statement. Under Howell v. Hamilton Meats, medical damages are the amounts actually paid or owed, which makes the billing paperwork part of the evidence.
If a claim cannot be resolved and a lawsuit becomes necessary, San Fernando cases go to the Los Angeles Superior Court, which serves the whole county. Unlimited personal injury lawsuits are filed in the court’s Central District at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown under Local Rule 2.3, and the court may later transfer a case to a district courthouse such as Chatsworth or Van Nuys East. The San Fernando Courthouse handles traffic, criminal, family and small claims matters, not injury suits.
Why work with Manoukian Law Firm
Manoukian Law Firm was founded by Vaheh Manoukian, a graduate of the USC Gould School of Law and UCLA who handled depositions and trials at a larger firm before opening his own. The firm belongs to the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and Consumer Attorneys of California, its founding attorney was selected to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for 2027.
The practical difference is that your calls are returned by the person who knows the file. The firm works in Spanish as well as English and Armenian, so a family can explain what happened in the language they are comfortable in, and calls are returned the same day. Meetings can happen at the Chatsworth office, in the hospital, or by phone and video. Consultations are free, the firm works on a contingency fee, and there is no fee unless we win. More background is on the about page, and past matters appear on the case results page. Neighboring areas are covered on the Sylmar and Pacoima pages.
Case results
Our client suffered catastrophic injuries after being struck by a commercial delivery driver who was on the job.
Our client developed ongoing neck pain after a multi-vehicle rear-end collision on the highway, requiring pain-management treatment. The case resolved for $400,000.
The other side valued our client's injuries at $5,000 to $10,000 and called it a “soft impact.” Our client was the third car struck in a chain-reaction collision. We filed suit and recovered $275,000.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Frequently asked questions
San Fernando has its own police department. Does that matter to my claim?
For the report, yes. A collision on a city street here is generally handled by the San Fernando Police Department rather than the LAPD, while freeway crashes nearby usually go to the California Highway Patrol. Requesting from the wrong agency costs weeks.
I was hurt in a crash with a city vehicle. What is the deadline?
Claims against a public entity are on a much shorter clock. A written government claim is generally due within six months under Government Code 911.2, and a lawsuit deadline follows the rejection of that claim, rather than the two years that applies to ordinary claims under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1.
A dog bit me on the sidewalk. Do I have to prove the owner was careless?
Generally no. Civil Code 3342 imposes strict liability on the owner when the bite happens in a public place or where the person was lawfully present, so there is no need to show the dog had bitten before. The bite should be reported to the local health officer, and the dog is generally quarantined for ten days.
What does a case like this cost me?
Nothing up front. The consultation is free whether or not you hire the firm, and you can reach it through the contact page.
If you were injured in San Fernando, call (818) 818-5031 for a free consultation. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless the firm recovers for you.
