Bakersfield, CA, September 30 – A woman died in a head-on collision between two vehicles on Highway 58 in Bakersfield, according to investigators. The victim, an occupant of one of the vehicles, was later identified by the Kern County Coroner’s Office as Veronica Espinoza Roa, 53, of Oakdale. Investigators said the crash occurred after one of the vehicles crossed into the opposite lanes of traffic.
Bakersfield Highway 58 Crash Leaves Oakdale Woman Dead
The crash happened shortly before 10:25 a.m. on Monday, September 28, on Highway 58 near Malaga Road in Bakersfield. Investigators said the vehicle that crossed into the opposite lanes had been traveling east before striking the second vehicle head-on. Both vehicles caught fire from the force of the impact, leaving them engulfed in flames.
The occupant killed in the crash was later identified by the Kern County Coroner’s Office as Veronica Espinoza Roa, 53, of Oakdale. Investigators have not said why the vehicle crossed into the opposite lanes, and no cause for the crash has been determined. It has not been reported whether the driver of either vehicle was taken into custody or cited.
Beyond what investigators and the coroner’s office have released, additional details about the crash remain unknown. It has not been said whether the driver of either vehicle was injured, or whether anyone else was in the vehicles at the time of the crash. The identities of the drivers have also not been 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 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.
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.
