Bakersfield, CA, September 25 – A two-vehicle crash left one person with minor injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol. The injured person was taken to a hospital for treatment after the collision, which happened Thursday night. The CHP responded to the scene and began investigating the incident, though the agency had not released extensive details, including the drivers’ identities, as of its initial report.
Bakersfield Crash on Planz Road Leaves One Injured
The crash occurred around 8:18 p.m. in the area of Planz Road and South Union Avenue, the CHP said. Two vehicles were involved in the collision. The person injured in the crash was taken to Kern Medical Center, where they received treatment for injuries described as minor. The CHP did not specify which vehicle the injured person had been riding in or how many occupants were in either car.
The events leading up to the crash had not been immediately determined, according to the California Highway Patrol. The CHP had not said what caused the two vehicles to collide or whether either driver was suspected of a traffic violation. The investigation into the crash remained ongoing as of the initial report.
A number of details about the crash had not been made public as of the initial report. It remained unclear whether anyone besides the one person taken to Kern Medical Center had been hurt, and the California Highway Patrol had not said whether any citations or arrests resulted from the collision or whether either driver would face further penalties.
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.
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.
