A crash with a Muni bus, a fall on a cable car, a collision with a City truck or a crash caused by a broken street is not an ordinary injury claim. The defendant is the City and County of San Francisco, and California law gives you a fraction of the usual time to act. This page explains the official process, using the City’s own instructions, and what our San Francisco car accident lawyers do differently when a public agency is involved.

The six-month deadline

For an ordinary crash between two drivers, California gives an injured person two years to file a lawsuit (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). When the responsible party is a public entity, you must first present a written claim to that entity, and for death or injury to a person or personal property the claim must be presented no later than six months after the cause of action accrued (Government Code section 911.2). The City’s own claims page says the same thing: file claims for personal injury, personal property damage, death or loss within six months of the incident.

Six months passes quickly when someone is in treatment. Missing it usually ends the case. Late-claim relief exists but is narrow and discretionary. If a public vehicle or public property was involved in your crash in any way, start the clock the day it happened.

Who the claim goes to

Muni is run by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, a City department, so there is no separate Muni claims office. Claims against any City department, including the SFMTA, go through the citywide process described on the City Attorney’s file-a-claim page.

  • Use the form titled “Claim form for injury, property damage, or loss.”
  • Submit it by mail or hand delivery to the Controller’s Office Claims Division, 1390 Market Street, 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102.
  • The City does not accept emailed or faxed claim forms.
  • Instructions are available in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Russian.

What happens after you file

The City says to allow up to 45 days for the Claims Division to process and investigate a claim. The outcomes it lists are: a notice that the claim is late or time-barred, a request for more information, a postponement while medical treatment continues, a formal denial that starts a deadline to sue, or a settlement offer. The City’s page also states that if a timely claim is not denied, you have two years from the date of the incident to settle or file a lawsuit against the City.

A denial is not the end. It is the step that opens the door to Superior Court. Our guide to how a San Francisco personal injury case moves through court covers what follows.

Cases that involve the City

Muni buses, streetcars and light rail

Passengers hurt in sudden stops or collisions, pedestrians and cyclists struck by a bus, and drivers hit by a Muni vehicle. Muni vehicles carry onboard video, and preserving it early is often the difference in these cases.

Cable cars

Cable car injuries include falls during braking, being struck while boarding on the street, and collisions with cars. The cable car system is part of Muni, so the same City claim process and deadline apply.

City vehicles

Police vehicles, fire apparatus, Public Works trucks, paratransit vans and other City fleet vehicles. The driver’s employer is the City, and the claim is against the City.

Dangerous conditions of public property

Broken pavement, a missing sign, a malfunctioning signal or a poorly designed intersection. These claims require proof that the condition was dangerous and that the City knew or should have known about it. San Francisco’s own Vision Zero data on where serious crashes concentrate can be part of that proof; see our page on San Francisco’s most dangerous streets.

What is different about suing a public agency

  • Deadlines: six months to present a claim, then the two-year or denial-based deadline to sue.
  • Immunities: California law gives public entities specific defenses that private drivers do not have. The claim has to be framed around a theory the law allows.
  • Evidence held by the defendant: video, maintenance records, driver training files and incident reports are in the City’s hands. Formal preservation requests go out at the start.
  • No jury sympathy shortcut: these cases are decided on records, so documentation matters more than usual.

GJEL has handled injury claims against public agencies across Northern California for decades. If a City vehicle or City property was part of your crash, talk with our San Francisco personal injury lawyers before the six-month mark. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you.

Frequently asked questions

I was a passenger on a Muni bus that stopped short and I fell. Do I have a claim?

Possibly. Common carriers owe passengers a high duty of care. Whether the stop was negligent depends on the circumstances, and the bus video usually settles it. File the City claim within six months while the facts are investigated.

Where do I send a claim against Muni?

To the Controller’s Office Claims Division, 1390 Market Street, 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102, by mail or hand delivery, using the City’s injury claim form. Email and fax are not accepted.

What if I missed the six-month deadline?

Talk to a lawyer immediately. California allows an application to present a late claim in limited situations, but the window for that application is also short and relief is not guaranteed.

Does the six-month rule apply to a crash with a private driver?

No. The two-year statute of limitations applies to claims against private parties. The six-month rule applies when a public entity is the responsible party.

Sources: City and County of San Francisco, Office of the City Attorney, “File a claim” page (sf.gov); California Government Code section 911.2 and Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov). Accessed September 2, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice about your case.