Cathedral City Personal Injury Resources

Injury crashes in Cathedral City

Source: CHP's statewide crash database (data.ca.gov), all reporting agencies. Cathedral City averaged 104 injury or fatal crashes a year in 2022–2024, compared with 117 a year in 2016–2018 (-11%).

Year	Crashes with someone hurt or killed	People injured	People killed
2016	111	153	3
2017	97	132	2
2018	142	198	11
2019	Not shown: the State's 2019 file covers only January to April.
2020	90	113	7
2021	85	110	4
2022	82	110	3
2023	118	155	8
2024	112	144	7
2025 (may rise)	110	133	5
2026 (year to date)	64	105	2

What Cathedral City's 2020–2024 crash reports show

487 injury or fatal crashes over five years, compared with the whole county.

Measure	Cathedral City	Riverside County
Crashes with someone hurt or killed	487	51,948
Fatal crashes	29	1,545
A pedestrian was involved	34 (7%)	5%
A bicyclist was involved	21 (4%)	3%
Hit-and-run	45 (9%)	10%
DUI recorded as the main cause	73 (15%)	10%
After dark	206 (42%)	33%
On a freeway	34 (7%)	25%

Compared with the county as a whole, the category that stands out most in Cathedral City's reports is dui recorded as the main cause: 15% of the city's injury crashes, against 10% countywide.

Most common types of collision:

Broadside (T-bone): 34%
Rear-end: 18%
Hit an object: 13%

Most common primary causes recorded by officers:

Unsafe speed for conditions (Vehicle Code § 22350): 18%
Unsafe turn or lane change (Vehicle Code § 22107): 16%
Driving under the influence (Vehicle Code § 23152): 15%

Counts are raw numbers, not rates. The primary cause is the officer's entry on the report, not a finding of fault. Open Cathedral City in the crash explorer.

Cathedral City in the state's crash rankings (2023)

Rank 1 is the worst among cities of similar population [source]. Cathedral City's worst category rank among cities of its size was alcohol-involved: 3 of 103. All 28 cities compared.

Category	Count and rank
Size group (population)	Group C (population 51,995) [source]
Killed or injured, all crashes	165 (rank 59/103) [source]
Alcohol-involved	56 (rank 3/103) [source]
Motorcycle	14 (rank 35/103) [source]
Pedestrian	9 (rank 70/103) [source]
Bicycle	5 (rank 89/103) [source]
Speed-related crashes	23 (rank 58/103) [source]
Hit-and-run crashes	9 (rank 67/103) [source]
Composite	rank 17/103 [source]

Local facts: Cathedral City

Population	U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimate for Cathedral City city, CA: 52,375 (July 1, 2025). Estimates base (April 1, 2020): 51,500. [source]
Highways	State Route 111 runs through Cathedral City as East Palm Canyon Drive; the City's March 2026 construction update describes a lane reduction on East Palm Canyon Drive (Highway 111) between Date Palm Drive and Van Fleet Drive. [source] Interstate 10 passes through Cathedral City; the City's 2022 billboard ordinance bans new billboards in the City, including along Interstate 10 on non-tribal land. [source]
Recent road projects	HSIP 11C Citywide Traffic Signal Hardware Upgrades at 49 Intersections: LED safety lighting, signal backplates and retroreflective signal heads; construction started March 2, 2026, beginning at Vista Chino and Date Palm Drive, with completion anticipated by Summer 2026. [source] Ramon Road Bridge over the Whitewater River (San Luis Rey Drive to Candlewood Drive, the gateway between Palm Springs and Cathedral City): a two-year project to widen the bridge from four to six lanes with seismic retrofitting, sidewalk and protected bike lanes; as of May 28, 2026 construction was scheduled to begin in fall 2026, with completion anticipated in December 2028. [source] As of May 2026 the City reported a multi-million-dollar expansion of Date Palm Drive north of I-10 to a six-lane roadway with storm drainage as underway, and a full reconstruction design for Date Palm Drive south of I-10 (damaged in Tropical Storm Hilary) as in design. [source]
Fire and paramedics	Cathedral City Fire & EMS provides fire suppression, paramedic emergency response and rescue operations, and has served Cathedral City since 1981. [source] Cathedral City Fire & EMS runs its own ambulances; its fourth ambulance, Medic 22, funded by voter-approved Measure W and staffed by six new firefighter/paramedic positions for 24/7 coverage, was marked with a rollback ceremony on July 1, 2025. Department headquarters is at 32100 Desert Vista Road. [source] Cathedral City Fire & EMS reported that its 90th-percentile total response time improved from 9:25 in 2023 to 8:21 in 2025 while annual calls for service rose from 7,293 to 8,075. [source]
Report a road hazard	Cathedral City's website, cathedralcity.gov (relaunched January 22, 2026), includes a Service Finder tool residents can use to report a pothole or locate a City service. [source]
City traffic safety	Federally funded Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) projects reported by the City in March 2026 as underway include signal-timing changes at 12 intersections to reduce yellow-light "dilemma zone" conflicts, two HAWK pedestrian signals, and a new pedestrian crossing at 30th Avenue and San Eljay Avenue. [source] The Cathedral City Police Department received a $55,000 California Office of Traffic Safety grant for traffic enforcement and education aimed at reducing serious injuries and deaths on local roads; the grant runs through September 2026. [source] In 2019 the City installed two HAWK pedestrian signals on Dinah Shore Drive, at Via De Anza and at Linda Way, near Cathedral City High School and the Marketplace Shopping Center ($398,000 project). [source]

Police and crash reports in Cathedral City

Law enforcement	Cathedral City has its own city police department. [source]
Address	Police department address: 68-700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero, Cathedral City, CA 92234. [source]
Phone	Records Bureau: (760) 770-0300, voice prompt 3. [source]

How to request a report from the Cathedral City Police Department →

Freeway and state highway crashes: CHP, CHP (630) Indio Area ((760) 772-5300).

Injury claims against the City of Cathedral City

Generally due within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2).

Filing office	City Clerk's Office. [source]
How to file	Physical mail or in person only; original wet signature required. [source]
Online or email	Email submissions are NOT accepted. [source]
Form link	official link [source]
Address	Cathedral City City Clerk's Office, 68-700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero, Cathedral City, CA 92234. [source]
Phone	City Clerk's Office: 760 770-0322; email cityclerk@cathedralcity.gov (for questions). [source]
Deadline	Death, personal injury, personal property: 6 months; real property: one year. [source]
Also note	Original wet signature required. [source] City employees cannot give legal advice to claimants. [source]

Hurt in Cathedral City?

Tell us what happened in Cathedral City. Our Riverside office handles injury cases across the county, and consultations are free, in English or Spanish.

Call (951) 848-5376 Send a message → · Office details

Courts

Courthouses whose published case lists include Cathedral City: Palm Springs Courthouse (limited civil and small claims, unlimited civil) [source]. Addresses, fees and filing rules →

Nearest trauma centers

By straight-line distance from the center of Cathedral City's reported crashes: Desert Regional Medical Center (Level I (adult), Palm Springs) and Eisenhower Health (Eisenhower Medical Center) (Level IV (adult), Rancho Mirage). In an emergency, call 911.

Dog bites and animal control

Report a dog bite or a dangerous animal in Cathedral City to: What to do after a dog bite →

County agreement	Riverside County Department of Animal Services provides animal field and shelter services to Cathedral City under an agreement the Board of Supervisors approved through June 30, 2028. [source]

Guides that mention Cathedral City

Ambulance bills

Every fact on this page links to the official source it came from. We checked each one in September 2026. Agencies change fees and procedures, so confirm with the agency before you go. How we research.

Injured in Cathedral City: local resources