Arden-Arcade, CA, October 25 – A 62-year-old Sacramento woman has been identified by authorities as the victim of a fatal crash that happened near Marconi and Eastern avenues in Arden-Arcade at around 6:46 p.m. on October 22, according to the coroner’s office. Valentina Rotari was struck by a vehicle in the area, the California Highway Patrol reported, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Arden-Arcade Woman Killed in Pedestrian Crash Near Marconi and Eastern Avenues
The driver involved in the crash was not immediately identified, but remained at the scene when authorities arrived, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol. No arrests have been made or reported in connection with the collision, the agency said, and no further details about the vehicle or its driver have been released.
The California Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to the crash, according to the agency. The cause of the collision has not yet been determined. The CHP has not said whether speed, impairment or any other factor may have contributed, and no further findings have been made public as the investigation continues.
Several details about the crash remain unconfirmed. It is not known whether any citations will be issued in connection with the collision, and the California Highway Patrol has not said when its investigation is expected to conclude. Beyond the facts confirmed by the coroner’s office and the CHP, no additional information about the collision has been made public.
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.
