Van Nuys, CA, November 3 – A 32-year-old woman struck and killed by a Los Angeles Police Department cruiser responding to an emergency call has been identified by her family as Kristine Poulos. The fatal collision happened Saturday night, according to police, who said the officer driving the cruiser was responding to the call at the time. Poulos’s death was confirmed at the scene, and the collision remains under investigation by the LAPD.
Van Nuys Woman Identified as Kristine Poulos After Being Killed by LAPD Cruiser
The collision occurred at approximately 11:30 p.m. in the 6100 block of Woodman Avenue, near Bessemer Street, according to police. The officer driving the cruiser was assigned to the LAPD’s North Hollywood Division and had the vehicle’s emergency lights and siren activated at the time, police said. Poulos was crossing the street in that area when the cruiser struck her, according to investigators.
A witness told investigators they heard the impact and then saw Poulos lying on the ground afterward. Rainy conditions were reported in the area at the time of the collision, according to police, though it has not been established whether the weather played any role in the crash. The witness’s identity has not been released.
Details about the emergency call that prompted the officer’s response have not been made public, according to police. The circumstances surrounding the fatal collision remain under investigation. As of now, it has not been confirmed what led to the collision, whether weather was a factor, or what information about the call might eventually be released.
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.
