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What If I'm Injured While Driving for Work in California?
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By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization · Cal Bar #285231
Yes, a California worker hurt while driving for work is covered when the trip was part of the job. The ordinary commute is excluded, but required-vehicle, special-errand, jobsite-to-jobsite, and employer-arranged transportation exceptions bring driving injuries back in. Certified Specialist Eman Yazdchi (California Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California) builds the course-and-scope record.
This post walks through the §3600 course-and-scope analysis and identifies which fact patterns survive the going-and-coming defense. Five exceptions, any one of which can make the difference between a denied claim and a paid one, are explained below. Eman Yazdchi, a Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law, certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California, builds course-and-scope evidence early: delivery logs, dispatch records, GPS data, supervisor texts directing route changes, and the personnel-file vehicle requirements that can flip a denial into compensability.
What does Labor Code §3600 require?
An injury arising out of and in the course of employment is covered, which excludes the ordinary commute but includes work-required driving and special tasks.
Labor Code §3600 requires that the injury arise out of and occur in the course of employment. "Arise out of" addresses the causal connection between work and injury; "course of employment" addresses time, place, and circumstances. Driving injuries usually meet "arises out of" easily, the question is course of employment.
What is the going-and-coming rule?
The default rule under Hinojosa v. WCAB (1972) and codified case law excludes ordinary commute injuries between home and a fixed workplace. The rationale: commuting is not a service rendered to the employer. The rule has many exceptions, and a competent course-and-scope analysis identifies which apply.
What is the commercial-traveler exception?
Employees whose work requires travel, outside salespeople, delivery drivers, traveling consultants, route inspectors, are commercial travelers and remain in the course of employment throughout the trip, with limited deviations. The exception is broad: meals, restroom stops, and overnight lodging during business travel are typically compensable injuries. Personal deviations (sightseeing, recreational activities) can fall outside coverage.
What about the special-errand exception?
An employer-directed errand outside normal duties, picking up materials, delivering a package, attending a meeting, is in the course of employment from start to finish.
When the employer asks the worker to perform a specific task off-route, pick up supplies, drop off a package, deliver a document, the trip is in the course of employment for the entire duration of the errand, including travel home if the errand was the reason for the trip. The exception is narrow: routine commute does not become a special errand just because the worker stops at the post office.
What about jobsite-to-jobsite travel?
Travel between two work locations during the shift is covered because the trip serves the employer's business, not a personal commute.
Multiple-employer or multiple-jobsite workers (construction, home health aides, traveling nurses, delivery drivers) are in the course of employment during travel between jobsites within the workday. The going-and-coming rule applies only to the first trip from home to the first jobsite and the last trip from the final jobsite home, and even these can be compensable if the employer requires a personal vehicle. The California DWC 2024 Annual Report classifies vehicular injuries as a major share of indemnity claims, with substantial coverage litigation.
What if I was driving my personal vehicle?
Personal-vehicle use is covered when the employer required the vehicle for work or paid mileage, even if the worker owned and insured the car.
Required-vehicle exception applies if the employer requires use of a personal vehicle for work tasks. The worker's commute then becomes compensable because the vehicle is a tool of employment. Mileage reimbursement is one indicator; written job descriptions requiring a vehicle are another. Document the requirement in writing if possible.
Related on yazdchilaw.com: California workers' compensation lawyer pillar · what to do if you can't go back to work after a workers' comp injury · what happens if the workers' comp judge mishears your testimony · can you keep workers' comp if you move out of state · California Labor Code §3600 explained.
Injured at work? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →How Yazdchi Law Handles Driving Cases
The firm preserves dispatch records, GPS data, and supervisor communications that document the work purpose and defeat going-and-coming defenses raised by the insurer.
Yazdchi Law, led by Certified Specialist Eman Yazdchi, builds course-and-scope evidence early (California Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California). We obtain delivery logs, dispatch records, GPS data, supervisor texts directing route changes, and personnel-file vehicle requirements. The course-and-scope analysis often turns on the specific task being performed at the moment of injury.
From Bakersfield to Los Angeles to San Bernardino, vehicular injury cases are a substantial part of our practice. Call (661) 273-1780 if you were injured while driving and the carrier denied based on going and coming.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I was on the way home but stopped at the post office for work?
The special-errand analysis applies. If the employer asked you to make the post office stop, the entire trip from the office through the errand and home is typically in course of employment. If the stop was personal and incidental, the going-and-coming rule still controls. Document the directive in writing, a supervisor email or text asking for the errand is strong evidence.
Does it matter if I was on a company vehicle versus personal vehicle?
Company-vehicle injuries are nearly always in course of employment because the employer's vehicle is being used in service of the employer. Personal-vehicle injuries depend on whether the employer required use of the personal vehicle for the trip. Required-vehicle analysis is fact-specific.
What if a third-party driver hit me?
You have both a workers' comp claim (if course-of-employment) and a civil personal-injury claim against the at-fault driver. The civil case provides pain-and-suffering damages that workers' comp does not. The employer's workers' comp carrier has a lien under Labor Code §3856 against the civil recovery. Coordinating the two cases is essential.
Does going-and-coming apply if I drive a Uber for work?
Rideshare drivers under Labor Code §2750.3 (the codified post-Dynamex/AB 5 framework, with rideshare-specific Prop 22 modifications) have a hybrid status. Within rideshare app time, drivers are in the course of employment. Between rides without app engagement, going-and-coming usually applies. Read the carrier's coverage tier disclosures carefully.
What if I was running a personal errand on the way to work?
Personal deviations from the work route generally fall outside course of employment for the duration of the deviation. Once the worker returns to the work route or work task, coverage resumes. The question is whether the deviation was substantial, a quick coffee stop is usually not, but a 30-minute side trip is.
Can my employer deny based on going-and-coming after they accepted my claim?
Carriers can amend acceptance under limited circumstances, typically when new facts emerge. Initial acceptance is not a permanent waiver, but the carrier carries the burden of justifying the change. Object in writing to any post-acceptance denial and file a WCAB declaration of readiness to expedite resolution.
Last reviewed by Eman Yazdchi, Esq., June 2026.
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