A Santa Clarita personal injury law firm is drawing attention to a persistent and growing problem on California roads: collisions involving drivers who lack adequate insurance. Barry P. Goldberg's team of car accident lawyers is highlighting the issue as statistics show a significant portion of motorists remain uninsured or underinsured, leaving accident victims at risk of shouldering substantial financial burdens.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, 15.4% of drivers nationwide carried no insurance in 2023. California ranks among the worst states, with roughly one in five drivers lacking any liability coverage. When underinsured drivers are factored in, an even larger share of motorists cannot fully cover damages from a serious crash. This gap in coverage often leaves victims struggling to pay for medical bills, lost income, and other expenses.
In response, California passed the Protect California Drivers Act (SB 1107), which took effect on January 1, 2025. The law raised the state's minimum liability limits for the first time since 1967, roughly doubling required coverage to $30,000 per injured person and $60,000 per accident. However, even these increased minimums can be exhausted quickly by a single serious injury, leaving the victim to cover the difference.
“Most people assume the other driver's insurance will cover them,” said Barry P. Goldberg, founding attorney at Barry P. Goldberg and a longtime authority on California's uninsured motorist law. “However, too often, it doesn't. When that happens, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage becomes the difference between recovering your losses and absorbing them yourself. Knowing how to use that coverage and negotiate with insurance carriers is where legal experience matters most.”
Uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is designed to pay for medical bills, lost income, and other losses when an at-fault driver lacks sufficient insurance. But recovering through one's own policy often means negotiating against the same insurer the victim pays each month, and those claims can be as contested as a case against another driver.
The firm offers free consultations to anyone injured in a crash in Santa Clarita and surrounding communities, including collisions involving uninsured or hit-and-run drivers. Cases are handled on a contingency basis, with no upfront costs and no fees unless the firm recovers for the client.
Barry P. Goldberg has practiced personal injury law in California since 1984 and is recognized throughout the state as a leading authority on uninsured and underinsured motorist law. The firm represents clients in cases involving car, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, and e-bike accidents, as well as hit-and-run collisions, slip-and-fall injuries, dog bites, and wrongful death.
