Loma Linda, CA, September 27 – A driver was killed late Thursday night, September 24, in a fiery multi-vehicle crash on westbound Interstate 10, according to the California Highway Patrol. The collision was reported at approximately 9:43 p.m. near Mountain View Avenue and involved four vehicles, including a dark-colored Toyota Camry and a black Ford F-150. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and was later identified by the San Bernardino County Medical Examiner as Hugo Macias Aguilar, 28, a Loma Linda resident.
Loma Linda Driver Killed in Fiery Interstate 10 Crash
According to California Highway Patrol dispatch logs, the crash began when a dark-colored Toyota Camry collided with the center divider in the No. 1 lane of westbound Interstate 10. Two additional vehicles, including a black Ford F-150, then struck the Camry. Investigators later confirmed that four vehicles total were involved in the collision.
Fire crews told the California Highway Patrol that the victim could not be reached because the burning vehicle was fully engulfed. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office was requested to respond for the coroner. The crash triggered a SigAlert and closed lanes 1 through 3 on westbound Interstate 10, with motorists directed to exit at Mountain View Avenue or pass along the far right side while crews worked the scene. All westbound lanes reopened by approximately 10:48 p.m., and the damaged vehicles were later removed from the freeway.
The cause of the crash has not been determined, and the California Highway Patrol reported no arrests during its initial investigation. The collision remains under investigation by the agency. Beyond the medical examiner’s identification of Aguilar, the identities of the other drivers involved have not been released, and it remains unclear what caused the Camry to strike the center divider or whether any citations will result from the investigation.
What the at-fault driver is required to carry, and why it often is not enough
Vehicle Code section 16056 sets California’s minimum liability limits, and they changed recently. For a policy issued or renewed on or after 1 January 2025, the minimum is $30,000 for injury to or death of one person, $60,000 where two or more people are hurt, and $15,000 for property damage. Policies written before that date may still carry the older minimum of $15,000, $30,000 and $5,000.
Those are floors, not typical limits, and a single hospital admission can exhaust the lower figure before any other loss is counted. Where the at-fault driver carries the minimum, the uninsured and underinsured motorist cover on the injured person’s own policy is often the part that matters most, and it is worth checking early rather than after the other insurer has made an offer.
The deadline that applies to a claim like this one
Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives two years for an action for injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another. The same two years covers an injury claim and a death claim; there is no separate, shorter period because someone died.
Who is entitled to bring a claim when someone is killed
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 decides who may bring a wrongful death action. The first group is the surviving spouse, domestic partner, children and the issue of deceased children, or, where there is no surviving issue, whoever would take the estate by intestate succession.
A second group may bring the action only if they were financially dependent on the person who died: a putative spouse and their children, stepchildren, parents, and the legal guardians of the person who died where the parents are deceased. Parents are in that second group, which is the part families are most often surprised by, because dependency has to be shown rather than assumed.
Talking to someone about it
Culver Legal represents people injured in collisions across California. A conversation about what happened costs nothing, and we work on a contingency fee, which means there is no fee unless we win. If we do not win, we do not pass the case costs on to you either.
Nothing on this page is legal advice about any particular case, and the facts of a reported collision often change as the investigation continues.
