Most Dangerous Roads and Highways in Santa Monica, CA

If you were hurt on a Santa Monica freeway, highway, or major boulevard, the design and condition of the road may matter to your claim. A handful of high-volume corridors carry most of the city’s traffic, and they account for many of its serious crashes. Our Santa Monica, CA personal injury lawyer reviews where each crash happened, including the road’s layout, signals, and history of prior collisions, to identify everyone responsible. Cohen Injury Law Group prepared this guide to the roads where serious Santa Monica crashes happen most often and the public agencies responsible for maintaining each one.

Why Major Corridors See the Most Serious Crashes

When the City Council reviewed street safety in 2017, City staff reported that serious collisions occurred “primarily on major thoroughfares with the highest volume of traffic,” according to Santa Monica Next. From 2006 to 2016, the city averaged 26 fatal and severe injury collisions a year, and 70 percent of reported deaths involved people walking or biking. More recent figures, including a City study that found 435 injury crashes in a decade on Santa Monica Boulevard, appear in our guide to Santa Monica, CA car accident statistics.

Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) and the McClure Tunnel

The Santa Monica Freeway ends at the McClure Tunnel, which connects the I-10 with Pacific Coast Highway. Commuters, beach traffic, and commercial trucks all funnel into the tunnel and the exits just before it. In June 2014, a crash in the tunnel involving a semi truck, a dump truck, and a minivan killed a child and injured seven others, CBS Los Angeles reported. The California Highway Patrol investigated. Crashes involving big rigs on this stretch are handled by our truck accident lawyer in Santa Monica, CA.

Pacific Coast Highway Through Santa Monica

North of the tunnel, Pacific Coast Highway runs below the bluffs, where drivers turn across oncoming traffic into beach parking lots. In April 2023, a northbound car turning left into a beach lot near the California Incline was struck broadside by a southbound car, leaving one person dead and nine injured, according to CBS Los Angeles. Riders are at risk here too. A 2016 collision on the 1500 block of PCH killed a motorcycle passenger, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. Our motorcycle accident lawyer in Santa Monica, CA handles these cases, and the firm also represents people injured farther up the coast in Pacific Palisades.

Lincoln Boulevard

Lincoln Boulevard is a primary north-south route connecting the freeway, downtown Santa Monica, and Venice. South of the I-10, it is part of Highway 1, but the state authorized the City to take responsibility for that stretch, and the City moved to take control of it from Caltrans in 2011, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. That history matters, because the agency responsible for a road on the date of a crash determines where a claim must be filed. Lincoln’s busiest crossings, including Wilshire and the freeway ramps, are frequent sites of intersection crashes, and the firm also represents drivers hurt farther south in Venice.

Wilshire Boulevard

Wilshire carries heavy traffic through the center of the city, and many of its cross streets have no signal. The City’s Wilshire Safety Study found that 89 percent of severe pedestrian and bicyclist injuries on the corridor occurred at unsignalized intersections, and that left turns from side streets were involved in 20 percent of crashes despite making up 1 percent of traffic. In February 2020, the City Council approved a phased plan to make 13 unsignalized cross streets right-turn-only and to add signals, curb extensions, and protected left turns, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. A pedestrian struck at Wilshire and 10th Street in November 2024 has sued the City and Los Angeles County, alleging the crosswalk’s warning lights were defective after earlier reports, CBS Los Angeles reported. Claims like these are common in crosswalk accident cases.

Who Is Responsible When Road Design Plays a Role

Public agencies can be liable for a dangerous condition of public property, such as a broken signal they knew about, as our guide to liability explains. The responsible agency depends on the road: the City maintains most surface streets, while Caltrans is generally responsible for the I-10 and Pacific Coast Highway. Agencies often raise design immunity under Government Code §830.6, which protects a road plan approved in advance if a reasonable official could have adopted it. That immunity can be lost if changed conditions make the design dangerous and the agency, after notice, fails to fix it within a reasonable time or give adequate warnings. Claims against public agencies are generally due within six months, as our statute of limitations guide explains, and our car accident lawyer in Santa Monica, CA identifies the right agency early.

Talk to a Personal Injury Attorney in Santa Monica, CA About Your Crash

Attorney Wayne R. Cohen has practiced law since 1991, graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan, and earned his law degree cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law. Attorney Nicholas E. Cohen works with him to investigate crash locations, road conditions, and agency records in each case.

Consultations are free, and you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation. Contact our team to discuss your case.

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