Mesa, CA, November 3 – Two 18-year-old women died after being struck by a vehicle while crossing a street early Sunday morning, according to the Mesa Police Department. Police identified the victims as Karlie McClannahan and Rindy Kidwell. The department said the collision occurred shortly before 1 a.m. near Center and Inglewood streets, when the women were crossing Center Street and were struck by a southbound vehicle. One woman was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other later died at a hospital.
Mesa Police Identify Two 18-Year-Old Women Killed While Crossing Street
According to the Mesa Police Department, the crash happened in dark and rainy conditions that limited visibility along Center Street. Preliminary information from investigators indicated the two women were in the process of crossing the street when a southbound vehicle struck them, near the intersection with Inglewood Street.
Police said the driver of that vehicle stopped at the scene and attempted to warn other approaching motorists. Two additional vehicles later came upon the scene and may have struck one of the women, according to the department. One victim was pronounced dead at the scene; the other was taken to a local hospital, where she later died.
Investigators told police there was no evidence that speed or impairment contributed to the initial collision. The drivers who have been identified in connection with the crash are cooperating with police, according to the department.
As of the latest update from the Mesa Police Department, authorities had not yet identified a dark-colored sedan that may have been a third vehicle involved in the incident. Police have not released further details about how the two additional vehicles came upon the scene or the extent of each driver’s involvement, and the investigation remains open.
What California law requires of drivers around pedestrians
Vehicle Code section 21950 requires a driver to yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing within any marked crosswalk, or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Subdivision (b) is the one people misread: a pedestrian may walk or run, and doing either does not forfeit the right of way.
Subdivision (c) puts a separate duty on the driver. A driver approaching a pedestrian in any crosswalk must exercise all due care and reduce the speed of the vehicle. That duty applies whether or not the pedestrian had the right of way, and subdivision (d) preserves it: nothing in the section relieves a driver of the duty to use due care for the safety of any pedestrian in the roadway.
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.
