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Santa Rosa Car Accident Attorney

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Attorney Michael Rehm — (800) 978-0754

Highway 101 runs directly through Santa Rosa, carrying commuter traffic, commercial freight, and wine country visitors along one of the North Bay's most congested corridors. In 2023 (the most recent year for which data is currently available), the Office of Traffic Safety recorded 497 people killed or injured in Santa Rosa traffic crashes. Seventy-five of those victims were in crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers. Thirty-nine crashes were hit-and-run. Attorney Michael Rehm represents car accident victims throughout Santa Rosa and Sonoma County on a contingency fee basis.

Negligence and Driver Liability

California Civil Code § 1714 imposes on every person a duty to use ordinary care in managing their property or conduct to avoid injury to others. For drivers, this means obeying traffic laws, maintaining safe following distances, yielding the right of way as required, and operating a vehicle with reasonable attention to road conditions. A driver who violates that standard and causes injury is liable for the resulting damages.

In Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108, the California Supreme Court identified the factors courts weigh in determining whether a duty of care exists and was breached, including the foreseeability of harm, the degree to which the defendant's conduct was connected to the plaintiff's injury, and the moral blame attached to the defendant's conduct. These principles apply directly in car accident cases, where the foreseeability of harm from inattentive or reckless driving is rarely in dispute.

Alcohol-involved crashes are a persistent problem in Santa Rosa. In 2023, the OTS recorded 75 alcohol-involved victims in Santa Rosa alone, ranking the city 34th of 62 comparable cities. Across Sonoma County, the UC Berkeley SafeTREC database shows that alcohol-involved crashes killed an average of 11.2 people per year from 2021 through 2025. A driver who operates a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs breaches the duty of ordinary care and, depending on the blood alcohol level and circumstances, may face enhanced civil liability.

Hit-and-run crashes present a separate set of challenges. When the at-fault driver cannot be identified, a victim's own uninsured motorist coverage may be the primary source of compensation. Attorney Michael Rehm handles both pursuit of identified at-fault drivers and claims against the victim's own insurer in uninsured motorist cases.

Speeding and Highway 101

Speed-related crashes are a significant source of severe injuries in Sonoma County. The OTS recorded 511 speed-related crash victims countywide in 2023. UC Berkeley SafeTREC data shows that speeding-related crashes killed an average of 7.6 people per year in Sonoma County from 2021 through 2025. Highway 101, which passes through Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, and Cotati before continuing north toward Healdsburg and south toward Petaluma, concentrates high-speed traffic alongside numerous interchange ramps and merging zones where crash risk is elevated.

A driver who exceeds the posted speed limit or travels too fast for road conditions may be found negligent per se — meaning that violation of the applicable Vehicle Code speed limit is evidence of negligence as a matter of law. Whether speed was a contributing cause of a particular crash, and what speed would have been reasonable under the conditions, are questions often addressed through accident reconstruction experts in complex cases.

Damages

A car accident victim in California may recover both economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages include medical expenses, lost wages, impaired future earning capacity, and the cost of future medical care. Noneconomic damages include compensation for physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement. California's pure comparative fault system means that a plaintiff's recovery is reduced by their proportionate share of fault — but a plaintiff who is partially at fault is not barred from recovery entirely.

Filing Deadline

Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 provides a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. For claims against the City of Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, Caltrans, or any other government entity, the Government Claims Act requires a written claim to be filed with the responsible entity within six months of the date of injury before a lawsuit can proceed. Missing that deadline can potentially bar a claim. Tolling doctrines may apply depending on the facts — contact Attorney Michael Rehm to assess the specific timeline in your situation.

The Sonoma County Superior Court

Car accident lawsuits in Santa Rosa are filed in the Sonoma County Civil and Family Law Courthouse, 3055 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95403. Cases are assigned to one judge for all purposes at filing. Tentative rulings are available by calling (707) 521-6606 or at sonoma.courts.ca.gov. The court's data shows that 71 percent of unlimited civil cases are disposed within twelve months of filing, making Sonoma County one of the faster-moving civil dockets in the Bay Area region.

Related Pages

Attorney Michael Rehm handles car accident cases throughout Santa Rosa and Sonoma County on a contingency fee basis. No fee without a recovery. Call (800) 978-0754 for a free consultation.

The information on this page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts. The law can change — statutes are amended, cases are decided, and regulations are revised; nothing on this page should be relied upon as a statement of current law without verification. Deadlines and legal bars discussed on this page are general guides — whether a particular deadline applies, has run, or is subject to tolling, and whether a particular doctrine bars or limits recovery in your case, requires individual analysis. Contact Attorney Michael Rehm to discuss the specific facts of your situation.

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Phone: (619) 787-3456 Areas Served: San Diego, Vista, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, El Centro, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Clarita, Glendale, Lancaster, Palmdale, Pomona, Torrance, Pasadena, El Monte, Downey, West Covina, Norwalk, Burbank, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Costa Mesa, Riverside, Corona, Moreno Valley, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Ventura, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Temecula, Bakersfield, Clovis, and everywhere in between.

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