San Bernardino Car Accident Claim Steps
If you were hurt in San Bernardino, the process is fairly contained: the San Bernardino Police Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, or the California Highway Patrol may handle the report, and civil cases are heard in the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino. California's state-law rules and deadlines appear elsewhere on this page, so this section focuses on the local sequence and what to request first.
386
People killed, 2023
No bar
Fault never bars recovery
Estimate your San Bernardino case in about a minute
California is already selected. Your answers, your documented losses, and California's fault and insurance rules produce the range.
How a San Bernardino claim usually moves
Start with the report. In San Bernardino, the responding agency is usually the San Bernardino Police Department for a city-street crash, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in county areas, or the California Highway Patrol on state highways. That first detail matters because the page's local claim record says CHP releases a crash report only to a party of interest, and crashes on city streets are held by the local police department instead.
Next, get the report from the right place before you argue about fault or send a demand. The local claim process for California Highway Patrol reports points you to the CHP Crash Portal at crashes.chp.ca.gov or to form CHP 190 submitted to the CHP Area office that filed the report, using the request path listed at https://www.chp.ca.gov/traffic/request-a-crash-report/. If your collision was on a San Bernardino city street, the same local claim record says the report is held by the San Bernardino Police Department instead of CHP.
Your claim then moves into the regular California timeline, but the practical local setting is simpler than in a larger metro because this page identifies one trial court: the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino. That means there is a single county court system for a lawsuit if settlement does not happen. The state-law sections elsewhere on the page cover California's 24-month personal injury deadline and 6-month government-claim deadline, so use those deadlines while building the file around the report, medical records, bills, photos, and insurer communications.
County crash volume gives some context for how busy the local system is. In 2023, the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System recorded 360 fatal crashes and 386 fatalities in San Bernardino County. San Bernardino's population is 224775, which is large for a single city but still far smaller than a statewide market, so you are usually dealing with a smaller pool of local specialists and one identified county trial court rather than many separate city and county venues. If a government vehicle or road condition is involved, pay special attention to the California 6-month government-claim deadline shown in the law data.
How to get your San Bernardino crash report
- Where to request it
- https://www.chp.ca.gov/traffic/request-a-crash-report/
Agencies that respond to crashes in San Bernardino
San Bernardino Police Department
City police
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
County sheriff
California Highway Patrol
State patrol
Courts that hear San Bernardino County civil cases
Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino
General civil claims
How fault is allocated in California
California follows pure comparative negligence. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but it is never barred entirely — even a claimant found 90% responsible recovers the remaining 10% of their damages. This is more favourable to injured people than the modified rules used in states such as Florida and Texas.
California filing deadlines
2 years
Personal injury
2 years
Wrongful death
6 months
Claim against a government agency
Reviewed 2026-07-29. Not yet reviewed by a licensed attorney. This is general information, not legal advice.
Insurance requirements in California
Not required and not part of a standard California policy. Medical payments coverage is available as an optional add-on. Your own health insurance is usually the first payer for treatment while a liability claim is pending.
Minimum liability coverage in California is $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage. Those are legal floors rather than typical limits, and a serious injury claim often exceeds them.
If a government agency was involved
A CHP crash report is released only to a party of interest — a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist, vehicle or property owner, parent or guardian of a minor, legal representative, or an insurer with a valid claim. The fastest route is the CHP Crash Portal at crashes.chp.ca.gov; otherwise form CHP 190 is submitted in person or by mail to the CHP Area office that filed the report. Crashes on city streets rather than state highways are held by the local police department instead.
Claims we can estimate in San Bernardino
San Bernardino questions
Sources and review dates
- U.S. Census Bureau — San Bernardino place GEOID 0665000, population 224,775 (2024 Population Estimates), land area 62.1 sq mi (2023 Gazetteer).
- NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2023 national file · reviewed 2026-07-30
- HIFLD Local Law Enforcement Locations, derived from the BJS Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (2008), imagery-validated to 2018 · reviewed 2026-07-30
- California Courts — Superior Courts, unified by Proposition 220 (1998) · reviewed 2026-07-30
- Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 335.1 — Two-year limitations period for injury or death · reviewed 2026-07-29
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1431.2 — Several liability for non-economic damages (Proposition 51) · reviewed 2026-07-29
- Cal. Gov. Code § 911.2 — Six-month claim presentation deadline · reviewed 2026-07-29
- Cal. Veh. Code § 16056 — Financial responsibility minimums (30/60/15 from 1 Jan 2025) · reviewed 2026-07-29
- California DMV — Insurance requirements · reviewed 2026-07-29
- Cal. Civ. Code § 3333.2 (as amended by AB 35) · reviewed 2026-07-29
- Cal. Civ. Code § 3333.4 — Limitation on recovery of non-economic damages · reviewed 2026-07-29
About this page
State law on this page was last reviewed 2026-07-29 and has not been reviewed by a licensed attorney. It is general information, not legal advice for your situation.
Local commentary on this page was prepared 2026-07-31 and checked automatically against the sources cited on this page. It has not been individually reviewed by a person.
We do not publish attorney profiles or rankings, and nothing on this page recommends or endorses any attorney. CaseValuation.com is operated by LuxeLaw LLC, which is not a law firm.
See what your San Bernardino claim could be worth.
Built from your answers, your documented losses, and California's own fault and insurance rules. You can get the estimate without agreeing to be contacted by anyone.