Authored by Mason Rashtian, founder of The Mason Law Firm
Dedicated Personal Injury Lawyer in Santa Clarita, Valencia, Canyon Country, Newhall, Saugus, Stevenson Ranch, Castaic, Val Verde, Antelope Valley, Palmdale, Lancaster, the San Fernando Valley, and the Greater Los Angeles Area
It’s a Tuesday afternoon on Soledad Canyon Road. You’re heading east toward Canyon Country in the right lane, just past the Sand Canyon intersection.
A transit bus pulls away from its stop, drifts into your lane, and scrapes down the entire passenger side of your car. Your mirror is gone, your door is crushed, and by that evening your neck and shoulder are stiff.
The next few weeks go the way they usually do. You see your doctor, start physical therapy, and deal with the rental car. You figure you’ll call a lawyer once things settle down. After all, everyone knows you have two years to bring an injury claim in California.
Except in this case, you don’t.
Call The Mason Law Firm, managed by Santa Clarita Personal Injury Attorney Mason Rashtian, today at 661-506-2992 for a FREE consultation. We serve clients throughout Santa Clarita, Valencia, Newhall, Saugus, Canyon Country, Stevenson Ranch, Castaic, Val Verde and all of Los Angeles County.
The Two-Year Myth
For most personal injury cases in California, the statute of limitations is two years. That’s the number people hear from friends, read online, and carry around in their heads.
However, when the party responsible for your injury is a government or public entity, a different set of rules applies: the Government Claims Act. Under Government Code section 911.2, a claim for personal injury or wrongful death against a government or public entity must be presented to that entity within six months of the incident.
This isn’t the deadline to file a lawsuit. It’s the deadline to file a formal written claim with the agency before you’re even allowed to sue. Miss it, and in most cases you lose the right to sue that entity at all, no matter how clear the fault or how serious the injury.
In the bus example above, an accident on March 10 means the government claim generally has to be presented by early September. That’s six months, which passes quickly when you’re in treatment, missing work, and trying to get your life back to normal.
Is a Government Entity Involved in Your Accident?
Most people don’t realize how often a public agency is involved in an everyday Santa Clarita accident. Here are some of the most common situations I see.
Public vehicles
Collisions with transit buses, city maintenance trucks, county vehicles, sheriff’s patrol cars, fire department vehicles, or school district buses may all trigger the six-month rule. When a public employee causes a crash while on the job, the claim generally goes against the agency that employs them.
Road and sidewalk conditions
California law allows claims against public entities for a “dangerous condition of public property” under Government Code section 835. That can include a deep pothole that sends a motorcyclist down in Saugus, a heaved sidewalk slab that trips a pedestrian in Valencia, or a malfunctioning traffic signal.
Depending on where it happened, the responsible agency might be the City of Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County (for unincorporated areas like Castaic, Stevenson Ranch, and Val Verde), or Caltrans (for state highways like the 14, the 126, and Interstate 5).
Trains and rail
Metrolink is operated by a public joint powers authority. So accidents on the Antelope Valley line and at its stations and crossings often fall under the government claims process.
Schools, parks, and public facilities
Injuries at public school campuses, community college facilities, public parks, libraries, and other government-owned property can all require a government claim.
Less obvious ones
This is where people get caught. Some services that look private are run by or for a public agency, and some agencies don’t clearly identify themselves as public entities.
Certain hospitals and medical facilities in Antelope Valley, Los Angeles and Ventura are publicly owned. If you are injured while visiting a public hospital or were injured because someone at the hospital failed to meet the standard of care, i.e. caused medical malpractice, you must file a claim with the appropriate government entity within six months.
Some transit and maintenance services are operated by private contractors on behalf of a government agency, which can mean you need both a government claim against the agency and a standard claim against the company.
If there’s any chance a public agency is connected to your accident, assume the six-month clock is running until a lawyer tells you otherwise.
What I Learned Defending Bus Companies
Before I represented injured people, I spent nearly a decade on the defense side, and some of my clients were bus companies. I can tell you that the defense in a transit case starts with the calendar, not with who was at fault.
The first question we asked was whether the claim had been presented correctly and on time. The second was whether it went to the right agency. The third was whether it contained what the statute requires. If the answer to any of those was no, the case could end right there, before anyone talked about injuries or damages.
Public entities and their lawyers know these rules extremely well. Most injured people have never heard of them. That gap is exactly why these cases need to be handled early.
What Happens After the Claim Is Filed
Once a proper claim is presented, the public entity generally has 45 days to accept or reject it.
– If the public entity sends a written rejection, you usually have six months from the date that notice is mailed or delivered to file a lawsuit in court.
– If the entity doesn’t respond at all, the claim is treated as rejected once the 45 days pass. In such a case, you usually have six months from the date that notice is “deemed rejected”, i.e. after 45 days have passed from the date you served the public entity with the claim form, to file a lawsuit in court.
In other words, there are two separate deadlines: one to present the claim and one to file the lawsuit. Both can be shorter than people expect, and missing either one can end the case.
What If the Injured Person Is a Child?
Parents often assume the rules are relaxed when a child is hurt. However, under the Government Code, that is not the case.
If the injured person is a minor, the code still requires that a written claim be submitted to the public entity within six months from the date of the incident.
So, keep this in mind if your child is hurt on a school campus, in a public park, or by a public vehicle (such as a school bus or public transportation). Don’t wait. Submit the written claim form within six months from the date of the incident.
Missed the Deadline? There May Still Be a Way In, But Don’t Count on It
If the six-month deadline has passed, the law provides a narrow path. You must first apply to the public entity for permission to present a late claim. This must be done as soon as possible and no later than one year from the date of the incident.
If the public entity denies that application, your only option is to petition the Court for relief under Government Code section 946.6. The code provides limited reasons which you must provide as to why the claim was not submitted in time.
I’ve handled these petitions, and they can succeed when the facts support them. For example, the injured person may have been incapacitated or the agency may not have made its public status clear. But they’re a rescue effort, not a strategy. You’re asking a judge to excuse a missed deadline while the public entity argues that you’ve lost your rights. You never to be in that position.
What You Should Do Right Now
If you were hurt in an accident in Santa Clarita or anywhere in Los Angeles County and there’s any chance a government agency was involved, here’s what I recommend:
1. Write down the date of the incident and count forward six months. That’s your working deadline.
2. Identify every vehicle, employee, and property owner involved. Photograph bus numbers, vehicle markings, agency logos, and the exact location of any road or sidewalk defect.
3. Don’t assume the insurance process will protect your deadline. Talking to an adjuster or a claims representative is not the same as presenting a formal government claim.
4. Talk to a personal injury lawyer early, well before the six-month mark, so the claim can be prepared correctly and sent to the right agency.
The Bottom Line
The six-month government claim deadline is one of the strictest rules in California personal injury law, and one of the least known. It doesn’t care how badly you were hurt or how obvious the fault was. It only cares whether the claim was filed correctly and on time.
At The Mason Law Firm, we are committed to helping you recover the compensation you deserve while guiding you through every step of the process.
We offer free consultations and work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case.
📞 Call 661-506-2994 for a free consultation.
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