Pedestrian Killed by LAPD Cruiser in Valley Glen | Who Pays When a Police Car Hits You
- Tom Feher, Esq.
A 32-year-old woman died late Saturday night, October 31, 2026, after an LAPD patrol car struck her on Woodman Avenue between Bessemer and Erwin streets in Valley Glen, ABC7 reported. The department said the cruiser had its lights and siren on and was headed to back up officers at a Halloween house party on Weddington Street in Sherman Oaks, where a shots-fired call had come in shortly after 10:30 p.m. and roughly 300 people were later dispersed without injury. An LAPD spokesperson told KTLA the woman was outside a marked crosswalk when she was hit, according to a Los Angeles Times report (via Yahoo News), and the department said its Multidisciplinary Collision Investigation Team had taken the case. No officers were hurt. Her name had not been released by the medical examiner as of those reports.
This article explains what California law says when a police vehicle on an emergency run hits a pedestrian, and why the deadline for a claim against a city is far shorter than most families expect. Feher Law does not represent anyone in this incident, and nothing here predicts how it will be resolved.
Tom’s Opinion
“The biggest misconception I hear after a crash with a police car is that lights and sirens end the conversation. They do not. California lets an emergency driver run a red light or exceed the speed limit, but the same code says that exemption never erases the duty to drive with due regard for everyone on the road. The second mistake is timing. A claim against a city is not a lawsuit; it is a written government claim, and the six-month clock starts the day of the crash. Families who wait for the police investigation to finish wait too long.”
Thomas Feher, Esq. · Founding Attorney, Feher Law APC · 50+ jury trials to verdict · $170M+ recovered
What California Law Says
The city answers for its driver
Vehicle Code section 17001 makes a public entity liable for death or injury caused by a negligent or wrongful act in the operation of a motor vehicle by an employee acting within the scope of employment. The section is written to the entity itself and contains no emergency-call exception. By contrast, section 17004 protects the individual public employee from civil damages when operating an authorized emergency vehicle in the line of duty while responding to an emergency call. In practice that means a claim over a crash like this one is directed at the city that employs the officer, not at the officer personally.
Lights and sirens are a conditional exemption, not a free pass
Vehicle Code section 21055 exempts the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the rules of the road only when the vehicle is responding to an emergency call (or in immediate pursuit) and the driver sounds a siren as reasonably necessary and displays a lighted red lamp visible from the front. Section 21056 then says the exemption does not relieve the driver from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway. Whether the response met that standard, including speed, the route, visibility, and whether the siren was audible where the pedestrian was crossing, is exactly what the collision investigation and any civil case will look at.
Crossing outside a crosswalk
Under Vehicle Code section 21954, a pedestrian crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk must yield to vehicles close enough to be an immediate hazard, but subdivision (b) says that rule does not relieve the driver of the duty to exercise due care for any pedestrian on the roadway. California applies comparative fault under Civil Code section 1714: a pedestrian found partly at fault has their recovery reduced by their share, not eliminated. Civil Code section 1431.2 limits each defendant’s share of non-economic damages to its own percentage of fault.
The deadlines are short when a public entity is involved
A claim for death or injury against a city, county, or state agency must be presented in writing within six months of the accrual of the cause of action under Government Code section 911.2. If the entity rejects the claim in writing, section 945.6 gives you six months from the date that notice is delivered or mailed to file suit; if no written notice is given, the outer limit is two years from accrual. The ordinary two-year personal injury and wrongful death limit in Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 governs claims against private drivers, but it does not excuse a missed government claim. Our guide to filing a government claim in California walks through the form and where it goes.
Who can bring a wrongful death case
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 lets a surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, and certain dependents bring a wrongful death action. A separate claim on the decedent’s own behalf under section 377.34 is limited to losses the person sustained before death and, for actions filed on or after January 1, 2026, does not include damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement. See who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in California for the priority order.
If This Happened to You or a Loved One
- Get the report numbers. Ask for the traffic collision report number and the name of the investigating unit. When the driver is a police officer, the agency that investigates is also the agency you will be claiming against, so keep your own record of every call and every document.
- Preserve video before it is overwritten. LAPD in-car and body-worn camera footage, dispatch audio, and private doorbell or business cameras along the route are the evidence that shows speed, siren use, and sight lines. A lawyer can send a written preservation demand to the city within days.
- Identify witnesses now. Residents who heard the siren, or did not, and people leaving the party are hard to find weeks later.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the city’s risk management office or its insurer until you have spoken with counsel. Anything said early becomes part of the claim file.
- Calendar six months. The government claim deadline under section 911.2 runs from the date of the crash. Waiting for the collision investigation to close does not pause it.
- Talk to a pedestrian accident lawyer. Our Los Angeles pedestrian accident lawyers handle claims against public entities and can estimate what a case is worth with our wrongful death settlement calculator as a starting point. Call (310) 340-1112 for a free consultation. You pay nothing unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Vehicle Code section 17001 makes the public entity, here the City of Los Angeles, liable for death or injury caused by an employee's negligent operation of a motor vehicle within the scope of employment. The case is brought against the city rather than the officer personally, and it starts with a written government claim, not a lawsuit.
It matters, but it is not a complete defense. Section 21055 exempts an emergency driver from the rules of the road only when responding to an emergency call with the siren sounded as reasonably necessary and a red lamp showing. Section 21056 preserves the duty to drive with due regard for everyone on the road, so speed, route, and visibility are still examined.
Possibly. Section 21954 requires a pedestrian outside a crosswalk to yield to vehicles that are an immediate hazard, but the same section keeps the driver's duty of due care. California comparative fault reduces a recovery by the pedestrian's share of fault; it does not bar the claim unless a jury assigns all of the fault to the pedestrian.
Six months from the date of the crash to present a written claim under Government Code section 911.2. If the city rejects the claim in writing, you then have six months from that notice to file suit under section 945.6. Missing the six-month claim window usually ends the case, so this deadline is the first thing to calendar.
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 gives standing to the surviving spouse or domestic partner, children, and issue of deceased children, and, if there are none, to the people who would inherit under intestate succession. Financially dependent parents, stepchildren, and putative spouses can also qualify. One action is filed for all heirs.
The city. Section 17004 shields the individual officer from civil damages when responding to an emergency call, but section 17001 places liability on the public entity for its employee's negligent driving, so a settlement or judgment is paid by the city, not by the officer personally.
Last reviewed by Thomas Feher, Esq., November 2026
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This article is for general information and is not legal advice for any specific matter.
