Teen drivers are involved in a disproportionate number of serious accidents in Los Angeles County. When a teen driver's negligence injures you or your family, California law provides powerful tools to hold both the teen and their parents or guardians financially responsible. Attorney Anand Desai has 20+ years of experience pursuing these claims.
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Teen driver accident cases present unique legal dynamics. Minors often carry minimal personal assets, and their auto insurance policies may have lower limits. However, California law provides specific statutes that extend liability to parents, guardians, and vehicle owners — dramatically expanding the pool of available compensation. At Anand Desai Law, we understand these statutes inside and out, and we use them strategically to ensure our clients receive full and fair compensation.
Attorney Anand Desai brings 20+ years of litigation experience and over 50 jury trials to teen driver accident cases. His background as a former LA County Public Defender gives him unique insight into cases involving young drivers, and his proven trial skills incentivize insurance companies to settle for fair amounts rather than risk a jury verdict.
Here is why victims of teen driver accidents choose our firm:
• Parental Liability Expertise: We pursue claims under California Vehicle Code Sections 17707-17714, which make parents and guardians who sign a minor's driver's license application jointly liable for the minor's negligent driving. This is a powerful tool that unlocks the parents' insurance and personal assets.
• Negligent Entrustment Claims: When a parent or vehicle owner entrusted a car to a teen they knew (or should have known) was an incompetent or reckless driver, we pursue negligent entrustment claims to hold them directly liable.
• Multilingual Service: Our team serves Glendale's diverse community in 11 languages: English, Spanish, Armenian, Farsi, Korean, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Thai, Tagalog, and Russian.
• Zero Upfront Cost: We handle every case on a 100% contingency basis. No fees unless we win your case.
Call us or fill out the form. We’ll review your case, explain your options, and answer all your questions — at no cost.
We gather evidence, work with experts, handle the insurance companies, and build your claim for maximum compensation.
We don’t get paid unless you win. 100% contingency fee — no upfront costs, no hidden charges, no risk to you.
Teen drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are involved in motor vehicle crashes at rates far exceeding any other age group. According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, drivers under 18 have a fatal crash rate approximately three times higher than drivers aged 20 and older per mile driven. In Los Angeles County — with its dense traffic, complex freeways, and miles of busy surface streets — teen driver accidents are a persistent and serious problem.
Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, and surrounding communities see teen driver accidents concentrated around high schools, commercial areas popular with young drivers, and the residential streets and arterials that connect them. Brand Boulevard, Central Avenue, Glenoaks Boulevard, and the neighborhoods surrounding Glendale high schools are frequent locations for these collisions. Weekend nights and after-school hours see the highest concentration of teen-involved crashes.
The reasons behind these elevated crash rates are well-documented: inexperience behind the wheel, poor hazard recognition, overconfidence, susceptibility to peer pressure (especially with passengers in the vehicle), and disproportionately high rates of distracted driving. Texting while driving is particularly prevalent among teen drivers despite California's strict hands-free laws. These factors combine to make teen drivers a significant hazard on Southern California roads — and when their negligence injures others, California law provides robust legal remedies.
California law imposes direct financial liability on parents and guardians who sign a minor's application for a driver's license. Under Vehicle Code Section 17707, any person who signs and verifies a minor's application for a driver's license becomes jointly and severally liable with the minor for any civil damages caused by the minor's negligent or wrongful act while driving a motor vehicle. This liability continues until the minor turns 18 or until the person who signed the application files a verified written request to remove their signature.
This statute is critically important for accident victims because it extends liability beyond the teen driver — who likely has minimal assets — to the parent or guardian, whose homeowner's insurance, umbrella policies, and personal assets may provide substantially greater recovery. Joint and several liability means the injured person can recover the full amount of damages from either the minor or the signing parent, or any combination thereof.
Vehicle Code Section 17708 provides that the parent or guardian's liability under this section applies to all damages proximately caused by the minor's negligent or wrongful act in driving. There is a statutory cap on liability for the signing parent under Vehicle Code Section 17714, which limits the signing person's liability to $15,000 per person injured and $30,000 per accident for personal injury, and $5,000 for property damage. However, this cap applies only to the statutory liability for signing the application — it does not limit liability under other theories such as negligent entrustment, which has no statutory cap.
Beyond the statutory parental liability under the Vehicle Code, California common law recognizes the tort of negligent entrustment. This claim holds a vehicle owner liable for entrusting their vehicle to a person they knew, or should have known, was an incompetent, inexperienced, or reckless driver. Unlike the statutory parental liability cap, negligent entrustment has no dollar limit — damages can be recovered in full.
To establish negligent entrustment, we must prove that the parent or vehicle owner knew or should have known that the teen driver was likely to create an unreasonable risk of harm. Evidence supporting this claim includes the teen's driving record (prior tickets, accidents, or license restrictions), the parent's knowledge of the teen's driving habits (speeding, phone use, reckless behavior), any prior incidents involving the teen driving the vehicle, and whether the teen had completed adequate driver training.
Negligent entrustment claims are particularly strong when the parent continued to allow the teen to drive despite red flags: prior at-fault accidents, moving violations, provisional license restrictions being violated, or complaints from neighbors or school officials about the teen's driving. Our firm conducts thorough discovery — including DMV records, school records, social media evidence, and witness interviews — to build a compelling negligent entrustment case that maximizes our clients' recovery without statutory caps limiting the outcome.
California's graduated driver licensing system imposes specific restrictions on teen drivers that, when violated, provide powerful evidence of negligence. Under Vehicle Code Section 12814.6, drivers under 18 with a provisional license face restrictions including a prohibition on driving between 11 PM and 5 AM for the first 12 months (unless an exception applies), a prohibition on transporting passengers under 20 years old without a licensed driver 25 or older in the vehicle (for the first 12 months), and all other standard driving rules.
When a teen driver violates these restrictions and causes an accident, the violation itself serves as strong evidence of negligence. A teen driving at 2 AM with a carload of friends in violation of both the nighttime and passenger restrictions has clearly breached their legal duties, and that breach directly supports the injured victim's personal injury claim.
Moreover, when parents know that their teen is violating provisional license restrictions — driving late at night, carrying underage passengers, using a phone while driving — and fail to intervene, this knowledge supports both a negligent entrustment claim and a general negligent supervision claim. Parents have a duty to exercise reasonable control over their minor children's dangerous activities. Failing to enforce GDL restrictions after learning of violations demonstrates a breach of that duty.
Distracted driving is the single largest contributing factor to teen driver accidents in California. Despite California Vehicle Code Section 23123.5, which prohibits all drivers from holding and operating a mobile device while driving, and Section 23124, which prohibits drivers under 18 from using any wireless device while driving (even hands-free), teen compliance remains dangerously low.
Studies from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety show that distraction is a factor in nearly 60% of moderate-to-severe teen driver crashes — a rate four times higher than official statistics suggest, because many distractions go unreported. Texting, social media, taking photos and videos, and interacting with passengers account for the majority of these distractions.
In our practice, we use cell phone records, app usage data, and vehicle infotainment system logs to prove that a teen driver was distracted at the time of the collision. Modern smartphones record detailed timestamp data showing when messages were sent, when apps were opened, and when the screen was active. This digital evidence can be devastating to the defense and is often the key piece of evidence that forces insurance companies to offer full-value settlements. We work with digital forensics experts who can extract and interpret this data in a format that is admissible in California courts.
Victims of teen driver accidents are entitled to the same categories of compensation as any other personal injury victim. Economic damages include all medical expenses (emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, prescription medications, and future treatment costs), lost wages and diminished earning capacity, property damage, and out-of-pocket expenses. Non-economic damages compensate for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, scarring and disfigurement, and loss of consortium.
The challenge in teen driver cases is ensuring that sufficient insurance coverage and assets are available to pay a fair settlement or judgment. We approach this challenge from multiple angles. First, we pursue parental liability under Vehicle Code Section 17707 to access the parents' insurance policies — including auto insurance, homeowner's insurance, and umbrella liability policies. Second, we pursue negligent entrustment claims that are not subject to the statutory liability caps. Third, if the vehicle was owned by someone other than the teen's parents (such as a grandparent, family friend, or employer), we pursue claims against the vehicle owner.
We also review our clients' own insurance policies for underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage that can supplement the recovery when the at-fault teen driver's coverage is insufficient. Our goal is to identify every available source of compensation so that our clients are made whole. Contact Anand Desai Law at (833) 270-7800 for a free consultation about your teen driver accident case. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Yes. Under California Vehicle Code Sections 17707-17714, the parent or guardian who signed the teen's driver's license application is jointly and severally liable for damages caused by the teen's negligent driving. There is a statutory cap of $15,000 per person / $30,000 per accident under this provision, but a separate negligent entrustment claim — which has no cap — may also apply if the parent knew or should have known the teen was an unsafe driver. Our firm pursues both theories to maximize your recovery.
Negligent entrustment is a common-law claim that holds a vehicle owner liable for allowing an incompetent, reckless, or inexperienced driver to use their vehicle. In teen driver cases, if a parent let their teen drive despite knowing about prior tickets, at-fault accidents, provisional license violations, or reckless driving habits, the parent may be liable through negligent entrustment. Unlike the statutory parental liability cap, negligent entrustment has no dollar limit, making it a powerful avenue for full compensation.
No. The cap under Vehicle Code Section 17714 applies only to the parent's statutory liability for signing the license application. It does not cap the teen driver's own liability, the parent's liability under a negligent entrustment or negligent supervision theory, or the vehicle owner's liability if someone other than the parent owned the car. Additionally, the auto insurance policy covering the vehicle typically provides coverage above the statutory caps. Our firm pursues every available theory and insurance policy to maximize your total compensation.
Under Vehicle Code Section 12814.6, drivers under 18 with a provisional license cannot drive between 11 PM and 5 AM for the first 12 months (with limited exceptions) and cannot transport passengers under 20 unless a licensed driver aged 25+ is also in the vehicle (for the first 12 months). Violating these restrictions and causing an accident provides strong evidence of negligence in a personal injury case. We investigate whether GDL violations contributed to the collision.
We subpoena the teen's cell phone records, which show when texts were sent and received, when calls were made, and when data was used. We also work with digital forensics experts who can extract app usage timestamps from the phone itself — showing when social media, messaging apps, or cameras were active. Vehicle infotainment system logs and dashcam footage can provide additional evidence. This digital evidence is often the most powerful proof of distraction in teen driver cases.
The vehicle owner may be liable under California's permissive use doctrine and negligent entrustment theory. If a grandparent, family friend, or other adult allowed the teen to drive their vehicle, that person may be liable for damages caused by the teen's negligent driving. Their auto insurance policy would also be implicated. We investigate vehicle ownership and identify every potentially liable party to maximize the sources of recovery available to our clients.
Yes. Teen driver accidents peak during after-school hours (3 PM to 7 PM) on weekdays and weekend nights. They cluster near high schools, shopping areas popular with teens, and the routes connecting schools to residential neighborhoods. In Glendale, areas around local high schools, Brand Boulevard, and the Americana at Brand see elevated teen driver collision rates. Summer months also see increased teen crash rates due to higher teen driving volumes and longer hours of activity.
Absolutely. Teen driver liability applies regardless of whether you were in another vehicle, on a bicycle, on a motorcycle, or walking as a pedestrian. Pedestrians and cyclists injured by teen drivers are entitled to full compensation for their injuries. We pursue the teen's auto insurance, parental liability, and negligent entrustment claims. California law gives strong protections to pedestrians and cyclists, and juries are often highly sympathetic to these victims.
You may recover economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, future medical costs, property damage), non-economic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life), and potentially punitive damages if the teen's conduct was particularly egregious. We pursue compensation from the teen's auto insurance, the parents' liability insurance, homeowner's and umbrella policies, and your own underinsured motorist coverage if applicable. Every case is unique — call (833) 270-7800 for a free evaluation. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
The standard statute of limitations for personal injury claims in California is two years from the date of the accident under Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1. However, if the injured person is a minor, the statute of limitations is tolled (paused) until they turn 18, giving them until their 20th birthday to file. If the claim involves a government entity (such as a city responsible for a road defect that contributed to the accident), the six-month government tort claim deadline still applies. Contact us promptly to protect your rights.
Anand Desai is a dedicated personal injury attorney serving Glendale and the greater Los Angeles area. A graduate of Loyola Law School with an undergraduate degree from USC, Anand has been a member of the California State Bar (#249768) since 2007, bringing 20+ years of legal experience to every case he handles.
Anand specializes in personal injury law, with particular expertise in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, and catastrophic injury cases. His deep understanding of California personal injury law, combined with his tenacious negotiation skills, has helped him secure millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for his clients.
What truly sets Anand apart is his commitment to his community. His firm is one of the only law offices in Glendale that offers services in 11 languages, including Spanish, Armenian, Hindi, Gujarati, Korean, Tagalog, Farsi, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese, and English — reflecting the rich diversity of the communities he serves.
“I fight for every client like they’re family. When you hire me, you’re not just getting a lawyer — you’re getting someone who genuinely cares about your recovery and your future.”
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