Taft, CA, September 28 – The Kern County Coroner’s Office has identified two of the three people killed in a three-vehicle head-on crash on Taft Highway on Saturday night. Jose Ivan Martinez Birrueta, 29, of Bakersfield, was driving a 2015 Mercedes sedan when it collided head-on with a 2020 Ford Ranger. His passenger, 26-year-old Nathan Steve Martinez, also of Bakersfield, died in the crash as well. The Ford’s driver also died but has not yet been identified.
Two of Three Killed in Taft Highway Head-On Crash Identified by Coroner
The crash occurred at approximately 7:41 p.m. on Sept. 26 on Taft Highway, also known as State Route 119, west of Harrison Road. The California Highway Patrol said a 2020 Ford Ranger heading east struck a westbound 2015 Mercedes sedan head-on. A 2018 Honda HR-V that had been following the Mercedes then drove into the scene and was hit by flying debris from the initial collision.
The Ford’s driver also died in the crash. That driver has not yet been identified and is listed as a John Doe, according to the Kern County Coroner’s Office. The Honda’s driver, a woman from Santa Maria, suffered major injuries in the crash and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The California Highway Patrol has not determined what caused the Ford and the Mercedes to collide head-on, and it has not said whether alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash, according to the agency. The Ford driver’s identity has not been released, and the extent of the Honda driver’s injuries beyond being described as major has not been made public. Those details, along with the exact cause of the crash, remain unconfirmed.
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.
