Covina, CA, October 25 – A 29-year-old man died after a multi-vehicle crash early Friday morning on the San Bernardino, or 10, Freeway near the Via Verde Street off-ramp, according to the California Highway Patrol. The crash was reported at around 3:29 a.m. The California Highway Patrol has since identified the man, though his name has not been released in available reports. Authorities have not yet said how the collision occurred.
Covina Multi-Vehicle Crash on 10 Freeway Kills 29-Year-Old Man
The California Highway Patrol is handling the investigation into the crash, which occurred in Covina. The agency confirmed that the man died as a result of the collision and has since completed the process of identifying him. Beyond confirming his age, officials have not released additional personal details about him.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the sequence of events leading up to the multi-vehicle collision was not immediately determined. The agency has not released any information about what caused the vehicles to collide or how the crash began. That portion of the investigation remains open, and no timeline for its completion has been given.
Several details about the crash remain unconfirmed. The California Highway Patrol has not released the man’s name, the number of vehicles involved beyond describing the crash as a multi-vehicle collision, or whether anyone else was hurt. It is also unclear whether any citations or further action will result. Those details may be released as the investigation continues.
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 January 1, 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.
