A serious crash on El Camino Real, Woodside Road, or Highway 101 can reshape your daily life within seconds. You may leave the hospital facing weeks of appointments, physical limitations, and uncertainty about when you can work again. Driving, caring for your family, or completing ordinary tasks may suddenly require help. At the same time, you are expected to manage medical bills, insurance calls, and decisions that could affect your recovery.
You should have the space to focus on your health and the people who depend on you. At Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos, our Redwood City car accident lawyers represent people seriously injured in crashes throughout San Mateo County. These cases often require a close look at the crash, the medical evidence, and how the injuries have changed your life. Our attorneys handle those legal demands while you focus on your health, your family, and adjusting to what comes next.
What a Redwood City Car Accident Claim Requires
Every car accident claim in Redwood City runs on a clock. California generally gives injured drivers two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit. Shorter deadlines apply when a government vehicle or public roadway defect is involved. There is no better time to start than today. Waiting to speak with a car accident attorney in Redwood City could cost your claim the benefit of surveillance footage, witness memory, and vehicle data. That evidence disappears within weeks of a crash.
Liability is rarely as simple as one driver running a light. Our Redwood City attorneys pull traffic camera footage, subpoena phone records, and coordinate with accident reconstruction specialists. That work builds a claim around every party who contributed to the crash, not just the driver named on the police report. That groundwork is what separates a claim that settles for policy minimums from one that reflects the full cost of the injury.
Where Serious Car Accidents Happen in Redwood City
Redwood City recorded 693 traffic collisions in 2024, including 26 crashes involving severe or fatal injuries. Local reporting identified Broadway, El Camino Real, and Woodside Road as areas with notable collision activity.
One example is the Woodside Road and Highway 101 interchange, where 190 collisions occurred between 2018 and 2021. Heavy traffic, merging vehicles, and sudden slowdowns are familiar conditions for drivers who regularly use this route. When a serious crash involves several vehicles, determining what happened may require evidence beyond the police report.
For an injury claim, the location of a crash can influence what evidence is available. Traffic cameras, nearby businesses, road design, and witnesses may all provide important information. Our attorneys examine those details alongside the evidence specific to each collision.
“I highly recommend Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos, LLP. Law partner Ilya Frangos represented us in our case where we were injured in a multi-car accident. He advocated for us effectively, timely and professionally. He was very knowledgeable about the law and procedures associated with this type of lawsuit. We felt confident that we were in good hands.”
Car Accident Cases Our Redwood City Lawyers Handle
The type of crash shapes which insurance policies apply and which parties can be held responsible. Our Redwood City car accident attorneys handle the full range of vehicle collision claims, including:
- Rear-end and multi-vehicle chain-reaction crashes on Highway 101 and El Camino Real
- Intersection and T-bone collisions involving disputed right-of-way
- Head-on collisions caused by impairment, distracted drivers, or lane departure
- Rideshare and commercial vehicle accidents involving Uber, Lyft, or company-owned fleets
- Drunk and impaired driving crashes, where punitive damages may apply alongside compensatory recovery
- Hit-and-run accidents, where having the right evidence and documentation can make a bigger difference
- Underinsured and uninsured motorist claims
Rideshare and commercial vehicle cases in particular tend to involve layered insurance coverage. Identifying whether a driver, an employer, or a rideshare company bears responsibility often determines whether a claim reaches full value or stalls at an individual policy limit.
Distracted driving is another factor in serious California crashes. A UC Berkeley traffic safety analysis found that distracted driving fatalities increased 6.8% between 2022 and 2023. Phone use and other distractions can become important evidence when determining what a driver was doing before a collision.
Serious Injuries Caused by Redwood City Car Crashes
The injuries often shape both legal strategy and case value. Adrenaline commonly masks the severity of an injury in the hours immediately after impact, which is why a documented medical record matters as much as the crash itself.
- Traumatic brain injuries, ranging from concussions to lasting cognitive impairment
- Spinal cord injuries resulting in partial or complete paralysis
- Fractures and orthopedic injuries requiring surgery and extended physical therapy
- Internal organ damage that may not present obvious symptoms at the scene
- Soft tissue injuries that worsen over the days following a crash
- Fatal injuries, resulting in death
Cases involving severe or catastrophic injuries require detailed medical coordination, often with forensic economists who can project the true financial cost of long-term care. Our car accident attorneys build that record early rather than waiting for an insurer to challenge it later.
Compensation Available After a Redwood City Car Accident
California compensation extends well beyond the emergency room bill and the repair estimate. A properly built claim accounts for both current losses and the ones that surface months later.
- Medical expenses, including surgery, rehabilitation, and projected future treatment
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Vehicle repair or replacement costs
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life
- Punitive damages in cases involving DUI or egregious recklessness
California follows a pure comparative fault rule, which means you can still recover compensation even if you share some responsibility for the crash. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, not eliminated by it. Insurance adjusters routinely try to inflate that percentage as a negotiating tactic, and we push back on that number with evidence before any settlement figure is discussed.
Car accident resulting in fatality.
How Insurers Handle Redwood City Car Claims
Insurance companies rely on a familiar playbook after a serious crash. They dispute injury severity, question treatment necessity, and extend a quick settlement offer before the full scope of loss is known. An offer that arrives within days of a crash is rarely built with your long-term recovery in mind.
Our car accident attorneys manage every conversation with the insurer directly, including recorded statement requests and independent medical exam referrals. Accepting an early offer can forfeit your right to recover future medical costs and lost earning capacity, so we do not let clients get maneuvered into a number before treatment is complete.
Steps to Take After a Redwood City Car Accident
What happens in the hours after a crash directly affects the strength of a claim. The following steps protect both your health and your case:
- Get medical attention immediately, even if injuries seem minor. Sequoia Hospital and Kaiser Permanente Redwood City both treat trauma cases, and that first record links the crash to your injuries.
- Call 911 and secure a police report. Redwood City Police Department typically responds to crashes on city streets, while the California Highway Patrol covers Highway 101 and Highway 84.
- Photograph the scene, including vehicle damage, road conditions, and the exact intersection or mile marker.
- Avoid discussing fault or giving a recorded statement to any insurance adjuster before speaking with an attorney.
- Contact our office before you sign anything. Early involvement lets us preserve surveillance footage before retention windows close.
- Keep a complete record of medical bills, missed work, and how your injuries affect daily life.
Why Hire Our Redwood City Car Accident Attorneys
When a serious injury changes your life, you deserve an attorney who knows your case and understands what is at stake. At Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos, clients are not treated as case numbers. We prioritize direct attorney-client relationships and remain personally involved as a case develops.
Our firm brings more than 75 years of combined experience to complex personal injury cases. We investigate each claim with the possibility of trial in mind, even when a fair resolution can be reached earlier. That preparation may involve medical records, crash evidence, witness testimony, and input from qualified experts.
Just as important, we take the time to understand what the crash has changed for you. A serious injury can affect your career, independence, family responsibilities, and plans for the future. Those consequences matter when we determine what a case requires and fight for a recovery that reflects your losses.
Our Redwood City car accident attorneys handle serious motor vehicle cases throughout San Mateo County and the Bay Area. Clients can communicate with our multilingual team in Spanish, Greek, and Chinese when needed. We also work on a contingency fee basis, allowing clients to pursue a claim without paying attorney fees upfront.
“Ilya Frangos went above and and beyond to help my husband and my family. My husband suffered a severe TBI in a traffic accident. We did not have a good case and many attorneys had turned us down already. Ilya didn’t and him and his team got us maximum from our insurance. I will turn to Ilya and his team any second if I will ever need a lawyer in California again. We were met with an equal amount of competence and empathy during the hardest time of our life. Thank you”
Let Our Redwood City Car Accident Lawyers Handle What Comes Next
The decisions made after a crash can affect the strength of your claim. Medical records, witness accounts, and physical evidence can become harder to obtain as time passes. Working with auto injury lawyers in Redwood City early helps preserve that evidence while you focus on your health and recovery.
You already have enough to manage after a serious injury. Treatment, missed work, transportation, and changes at home can demand your attention every day. Our attorneys can take responsibility for the legal work and determine what your case requires. We build the claim around what happened, the evidence available, and the full impact of your injuries.
If you or someone you love was seriously injured in Redwood City or the surrounding Peninsula, contact Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos. Your first conversation is free, with no obligation to move forward. Talk directly with our team about what happened and what comes next.