Newport Beach is known for its scenic coastline, luxury lifestyle, and laid-back vibe—but its roads can be anything but relaxing. Whether you’re cruising down Pacific Coast Highway or navigating MacArthur Boulevard during rush hour, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. And some intersections are more dangerous than others.
As a Newport Beach car accident lawyer, I’ve seen how quickly a routine drive can turn into a life-changing event. The location of your crash can affect everything—from how emergency services respond to how your injury claim is evaluated.
Let’s break down the local danger zones and what to do if you’re involved in a collision.
The Worst Intersections for Car Accidents in Newport Beach
Some intersections in Newport Beach see more crashes than others—often due to high traffic volume, confusing layouts, or aggressive driving. Based on recent traffic reports and client cases, here are a few hotspots:
- Jamboree Rd & Pacific Coast Highway (PCH): This is one of the busiest junctions in the city, with fast-moving traffic coming from multiple directions. Rear-end collisions and T-bone crashes are common here.
- MacArthur Blvd & Bison Ave: Located near the freeway and shopping centers, this intersection gets crowded quickly, especially during weekends. Distracted driving and speeding are frequent causes of accidents.
- Balboa Blvd & 32nd Street: A popular area for beachgoers and tourists, this area sees a mix of cars, bikes, and pedestrians—making it a recipe for multi-vehicle or pedestrian-involved accidents.
If you’ve been in a crash at any of these intersections, take it seriously. Even a low-speed impact can lead to injuries that don’t show up right away.
What to Do After a Newport Beach Car Accident
First things first: make sure everyone is safe and call 911. If you’re able, take photos of the scene, including skid marks, damage, and nearby street signs. Exchange information, but don’t admit fault—it’s easy to say the wrong thing in the moment.
Next, see a doctor, even if you feel “okay.” Many injuries—like whiplash or concussions—can take hours or days to fully appear.
Finally, talk to a Newport Beach car accident lawyer as soon as possible. The location of your crash can affect who’s responsible, how fault is determined, and how much compensation you might receive. For example, intersections with known design flaws or poor signage could raise questions about city liability. This means that even if the other driver has insurance, it might not be enough to cover your medical bills, loss of income, pain & suffering, and damage to your vehicle or bike. You may be able to recover against the other driver’s insurance, obtain a personal contribution from the other driver, obtain a settlement from your insurance (and they can’t raise your insurance rates because you settled with them), AND you may be able to obtain money from the City of Newport Beach or County of Orange for a dangerous condition of the street or sidewalk. However, as you can probably tell, these large corporations and cities don’t pay money with a smile on their face. They fight hard to minimize the value of your recovery and even outright reject it. It’s extremely important to make the right decisions from the beginning. That’s why Gallo Law implemented its “CALL FROM THE SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT” program. Immediately after getting into a car or bike accident, you can call Gallo Law 949-414-5508 to obtain free legal advice from the scene of the accident. We appreciate if you sign up with us afterward to represent you but it’s not required.
The CALL FROM THE SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT program provides free legal advice from the scene: What to do next after a car accident? Who to call after a car accident? What to say after a car accident? What not to say after a car accident? These are game changers. For example, there may be a witness of the accident but you don’t think you’re injured so you just wait for the police to arrive. Once they arrive, the police don’t allow you to speak with the witness to get their contact information. Unfortunately for you, since you told the cops that you didn’t need an ambulance, they notated the car accident as a “non-injury” and don’t write a Traffic Collision Report. Now you didn’t get the witnesses information and have no way of contacting them. The other driver, who told you at the scene that they were at fault has now changed their tune when speaking to their insurance company and claims that you’re at fault. Now, it’s their word against yours. Guess what, this has happened so many times. If you called Gallo Law from the scene, we would have advised you to get the information of the witness before the police showed up and messed things up. The police don’t care about your car accident case. Most police became police officers to fight crime, not to take reports regarding car accidents. So if they don’t have to write the report, that’s less work for them to do. Another scenario is that the police write down different stuff than what was said to them. They’re not perfect. Imagine that you get the Traffic Collision Report back and they wrote that you said something that you didn’t. Now, you’re claim against the other insurance company is dead in the water and your personal insurance rates are going up, even though you weren’t at fault. If you called Gallo Law FROM THE SCENE OF THE ACCIDENT, we would’ve advised you to get out your phone and record the conversation with the police while you were giving them your version of the accident. You can use that video to request a supplemental traffic collision report which would overwrite the original report and save you thousands of dollars, even millions.
You Don’t Have to Handle This Alone
Being hit in a car accident—especially in a high-risk intersection—is overwhelming. You may be facing medical bills, lost wages, or ongoing pain. A Newport Beach car accident lawyer can help you make sense of the process, deal with insurance adjusters, and fight for what you deserve.
If you’ve been injured in a Newport Beach crash, don’t wait. The sooner you take action, the stronger your case can be.