Bakersfield, CA, October 23 – The Kern County Coroner’s Office has identified the man killed when his car collided with a semi-truck trailer at an intersection in Bakersfield early Friday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol. The victim was identified as Angad Singh, 29, of Bakersfield, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Singh was the sole occupant of his vehicle.
Bakersfield man, 29, identified after fatal crash with semi-truck trailer
The California Highway Patrol said the crash happened at about 3:07 a.m. at Bear Mountain Boulevard and Old River Road. According to CHP’s preliminary investigation, Singh was driving a 2025 Mercedes-Benz sedan northbound on Old River Road at an unknown speed when he entered the intersection and struck the trailer being pulled by a westbound 2018 Freightliner semi-truck.
The semi-truck driver, a 40-year-old Bakersfield man, had stopped at the stop sign before proceeding onto Bear Mountain Boulevard, CHP said. Singh sustained fatal injuries in the collision. The semi-truck driver was not hurt.
CHP said investigators have not yet determined whether alcohol or drugs were contributing factors in the crash. The circumstances surrounding the collision remain under investigation, and no further details have been released at this time.
Why evidence in a commercial vehicle case has a deadline of its own
A collision involving a commercial vehicle is not simply a larger car accident. The carrier holds records the other driver never has: electronic logging data, maintenance and inspection history, dispatch instructions and driver qualification files.
Those records are the best evidence of what happened and they do not last indefinitely. Retention periods are measured in months for some categories, so the window to preserve them can close long before the deadline to file a lawsuit does. A preservation demand sent early is the step that keeps them available.
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.
