You have six months to present a written claim to Metro under California Government Code section 911.2, not the two years that applies to a private driver. A North Hollywood bus accident lawyer files that claim first. Metro then has 45 days to respond, and the deadline to sue depends on that response.
The King Law Firm handles bus, car, and pedestrian injury claims across the San Fernando Valley. Kenneth King has served Los Angeles County for over a decade, and he personally oversees every case the firm accepts. Fees come out of the recovery, so a client owes nothing unless the firm wins.
If a Metro bus hurt you near the North Hollywood Station, call The King Law Firm at (818) 452-2510 for a free case review. You pay no legal fees unless the firm wins.
Why a Metro Bus Crash in North Hollywood Starts a Six-Month Clock
Metro is a public entity, so the ordinary two-year injury statute does not control the first step. An injured rider must first present a written claim to the agency. The King Law Firm treats that claim as the case, because a late one usually ends the matter.
Public Utilities Code section 130050.2 created the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority as successor to the Southern California Rapid Transit District. Government Code section 811.2 defines a public entity to include a district, a public authority, and a public agency. Metro fits that definition, so the Government Claims Act reaches a crash on Lankershim Boulevard.
What Government Code Section 911.2 Requires
Government Code section 911.2, subdivision (a), states the rule in one sentence. A claim for death or injury to a person must be presented not later than six months after the cause of action accrues. Claims for other damage, such as harm to real property, get one full year. The six-month version governs a bus injury, and no letter from Metro extends it.
When the Six Months Begin to Run
Accrual normally means the date of the crash. A rider hurt when a bus brakes hard on Victory Boulevard usually starts the clock that same day. Some injuries are different, because a herniated disc or a brain injury can surface weeks later. Talk to a lawyer before assuming a later discovery date, since Metro will argue for the earliest possible one.
What the Written Claim to Metro Must Contain and Where It Goes
A claim is not a phone call to customer service. Government Code section 910 lists what the document must say, and section 910.2 requires a signature from the claimant or someone acting for the claimant. A claim that misses a required item can come back as insufficient.
Content rules matter more than most riders expect. Metro reviews what arrives on paper, not what a claimant meant to say. Small errors in the date or the place of a North Hollywood injury invite an argument later. Getting those details right on the first pass avoids the fight.
The Items Government Code Section 910 Lists
Section 910 asks for the claimant’s name and mailing address, plus an address for notices. The form also needs the date, the place, and the circumstances of the incident. A general description of the injury known at the time belongs there too. Section 910 then asks for the names of any public employees who caused the harm, if the rider knows them.
Metro Claims and City Claims Go to Different Counters
Government Code section 915 says a claim goes to the clerk, the secretary, or the auditor of the entity. Mailing it to the governing body at its principal office also works. That sounds simple until a rider learns that two different agencies run buses through North Hollywood. Sending the paperwork to the wrong one does not stop the six-month clock.
Metro Bus Claims Go to One Gateway Plaza
Metro accepts a Claim for Damages form in person or by mail only. Its Legal Services office lists the address as One Gateway Plaza, mail stop PL4, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Email submissions are rejected. That page explains how to submit but never states the six-month deadline.
DASH North Hollywood Claims Go to the City Clerk
DASH North Hollywood and Commuter Express are LADOT services, which makes the City of Los Angeles the defendant. The Los Angeles City Attorney directs those claims to the City Clerk at 200 North Spring Street, Room 395. No other office can accept them. A rider who mails a DASH claim to Metro has filed nothing.
What Happens in the 45 Days After the Claim Arrives
Presenting the claim starts a second stage. Government Code section 912.4 gives the governing board 45 days to act on it. The claimant and the board can agree in writing to extend that period. A claim that gets amended resets the 45 days.
Silence is not a dead end. The statute treats inaction as a decision, and the claim is deemed rejected on the last day of the period. A rider’s next move depends on whether Metro puts anything in the mail. That single fact can change the lawsuit deadline by 18 months.
Rejection by Operation of Law Under Section 912.4
Subdivision (c) of section 912.4 does the quiet work here. If the board fails or refuses to act within the 45 days, the claim is deemed rejected on the last day of that period. No letter is required for that to happen. A rider can be sitting on a rejected claim without knowing it. That is why the calendar matters more than the mailbox.
The Suit Deadline Most Websites State Incorrectly
Government Code section 945.6 controls the deadline to file suit, and it has two halves. Almost every page a rider finds quotes the first half and stops. The second half is the one that saves cases. Section 913 describes the notice that decides which half applies. Read both halves before assuming a case is gone, because the answer turns on a single piece of mail.
Six Months After a Mailed Rejection Notice
Under section 945.6, subdivision (a)(1), a rider has six months from the date the rejection notice is delivered or deposited in the mail. Section 913 requires that notice to carry a warning about the six-month period. The clock runs from the mailing date, not from delivery.
Two Years When Metro Never Writes Back
Subdivision (a)(2) is the half that gets left out. When the entity does not give the written notice section 913 requires, the rider has two years from accrual to sue. That is 18 months more than the six months everyone quotes. Check the file before giving up.
Which Bus You Were Riding Decides Which Deadline You Get
North Hollywood is one of the busiest transit points in the San Fernando Valley. Metro buses, an LADOT circulator, and two suburban systems share the same block of Lankershim Boulevard. When a Metro bus and a car collide, one side of the case looks like a North Hollywood car accident claim.
The line between a public and a private operator is the whole question. Both owe passengers the utmost care and diligence under Civil Code section 2100. In Lopez v. Southern California Rapid Transit District, the California Supreme Court applied that duty to a transit district that Metro later succeeded. What differs is the deadline, not the duty.
Public Buses on the Six-Month Government Clock
Any operator that qualifies as a public entity under Government Code section 811.2 gets the six-month rule. That covers a transit authority, a city department, and a school district. A joint powers agency that runs a regional shuttle falls in the same bucket. Paint on the side of the bus is not the test, because ownership rather than branding decides the question.
Metro Lines and the G Line Busway at North Hollywood
The B Line subway and the G Line busway both end at the North Hollywood Station on Lankershim Boulevard, near Chandler Boulevard. Metro bus lines 154, 224, and 237 serve the same hub. The G Line runs in its own right of way and crosses streets at grade. Signal timing matters there as much as driver attention.
School Buses Run by a Public School District
A school district is a district under Government Code section 811.2, so a school bus injury runs on the same six-month clock. That claim goes to the district, not to Metro. Parents often assume a child’s injury carries a longer deadline. Section 911.4 counts the time the injured person spent as a minor.
Private Buses on the Two-Year Clock Under Section 335.1
A charter bus, a hotel shuttle, and an employer van are private carriers. Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives an injured passenger two years from the wrongful act. No government claim is required, and no 45-day review applies. Many private operators hold a charter-party carrier permit from the California Public Utilities Commission under Public Utilities Code section 5351. That permit file often names the insurer.
What a North Hollywood Bus Accident Lawyer Does After the Six Months Pass
A missed deadline is not always the end of the case. California builds two escape hatches into the Government Claims Act. Both are narrow, and both carry their own deadlines. A family pursuing a North Hollywood wrongful death claim faces the same six-month rule.
The first hatch is a written application to the public entity itself. The second is a petition to the superior court. A North Hollywood bus accident lawyer files them in that order, because a rider who skips the application loses on procedure alone. Order matters more than argument here.
The Late-Claim Application Under Section 911.4
Section 911.4 lets a rider apply in writing for leave to present a late claim. The application goes to the entity within a reasonable time, and never later than one year after accrual. It must state the reason for the delay, and the proposed claim has to be attached to it. Miss that one-year outer limit and this route closes for good.
The Court Petition Under Section 946.6
If the entity denies the application, section 946.6 allows a petition to the superior court. The petition is due within six months after the denial or the deemed denial. A court must grant relief when the failure came from mistake or excusable neglect, unless the entity shows prejudice. Relief also follows when the claimant was a minor for the whole six-month period.
Where a North Hollywood Bus Case Is Filed and What Records Support It
Two practical questions decide how a bus case runs. The first is what the local records say. The second is which courthouse takes the filing. Both answers changed in the last few years, and stale pages still repeat the old ones. Neither question is hard to answer correctly.
Los Angeles County is one court with many buildings. A rider cannot assume the nearest one is correct. For a personal injury filing, a local rule settles the question, not geography. The same problem faces a pedestrian hit by a bus at a North Hollywood crosswalk.
The Local Records That Fix the Accrual Date
The LAPD North Hollywood Community Police Station at 11640 Burbank Boulevard writes the collision report for crashes there. Its Valley Bureau division covers Studio City, Sun Valley, and Toluca Lake. The department asks requesters to allow at least 45 days from the collision date before a report becomes available, and its Records and Identification Division charges $19.
Hospital records tell the rest. Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank is a STEMI receiving center, not a trauma center. Los Angeles County routes major trauma to a designated center such as Northridge Hospital Medical Center, a Level II facility.
The Courthouse Rule That Changed in January 2024
Los Angeles Superior Court once funneled Central District personal injury cases into a Personal Injury Hub at the Spring Street Courthouse. That system is gone. Pages that still send readers to Spring Street describe a court that no longer handles these cases. Confirm the current rule and the current notice before relying on either. A filing in the wrong building invites a transfer motion.
Local Rule 2.3 Routes Personal Injury Filings to Stanley Mosk
Local Rule 2.3 covers every unlimited civil tort action for bodily injury. Such an action must be filed in the Central District at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, or in the North District at the Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse. The edition published on the court’s website is effective January 1, 2022, and rule 2.3 was last amended effective July 1, 2018.
The Spring Street Personal Injury Hub Closed on January 8, 2024
The court issued a notice dated December 14, 2023, announcing the change. Effective January 8, 2024, personal injury cases filed in the Central District go to Independent Calendar departments at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. Cases already pending at Spring Street stayed there. New filings never start there.
The Published District Maps Do Not Name North Hollywood
Rule 2.3 sends readers to the district maps attached to the local rules. Those maps describe each district by section lines and street centerlines, and they never name North Hollywood. Reading a district off them is guesswork. The rule tells filers to use the court’s filing court locator instead.
Why the Filing Court Locator Is the Safer Answer
The locator takes a city name or a ZIP code and returns the district and the courthouse. Its own caution says a mailing address may not show true geographic location. For a bus injury, the answer is usually Stanley Mosk anyway. Confirm the address rather than trust a blog.
Questions North Hollywood Riders Ask About Metro Claim Deadlines
These questions come up in bus cases across the San Fernando Valley. Some of them overlap with what riders ask after a North Hollywood truck accident, because both involve a commercial driver and a company record. A single fact can change any one of the answers below.
Does the Six-Month Deadline Apply If Metro Pays My Medical Bills?
Yes. A voluntary payment does not waive the claim requirement in Government Code section 911.2. Adjusters sometimes cover an emergency room visit while the clock keeps running.
What If I Was Hurt as a Pedestrian and Not a Passenger?
The same six-month rule applies. Government Code section 911.2 covers any claim for injury to a person against a public entity. A pedestrian struck on Magnolia Boulevard by a Metro bus files the same written claim.
Can I File a Claim If I Do Not Know the Driver’s Name?
Yes. Government Code section 910 asks for the names of public employees only if the claimant knows them. Describe the route, the direction of travel, and the time instead.
Does the Two-Year Rule in Section 945.6 Replace the Six-Month Claim?
No. That two-year period only sets the deadline to sue when the entity never mails a rejection notice. A rider still has to present the written claim within six months.
Which Deadline Applies to a Burbank Bus or a Santa Clarita Transit Bus?
Burbank Bus belongs to the City of Burbank, and Santa Clarita Transit belongs to the City of Santa Clarita. Both cities are public entities under Government Code section 811.2, so the six-month rule applies to each.
Talk to a North Hollywood Bus Accident Lawyer Before the Six Months Run Out
The six-month claim deadline decides most Metro cases before fault matters. It runs from accrual, not from the day a rider feels ready. The King Law Firm builds the claim package while the medical picture is still forming.
Kenneth King has served Los Angeles County for over a decade, and he personally oversees every case the firm accepts. Consultations are free, and a client owes nothing unless the firm wins.
Call The King Law Firm at (818) 452-2510 for a free case review. A North Hollywood bus accident lawyer can tell you in one call whether your claim window is still open. Bring the crash date and the bus line if you have it.
You can also reach the firm through its contact page. If the six months have already passed, say so, because sections 911.4 and 946.6 may still leave a path. Do not assume the case is over until someone reads the file.