Bakersfield, CA, October 19 – The California Highway Patrol said a motorcyclist was hurt on Monday afternoon when her motorcycle collided with another vehicle on Edison Highway in Bakersfield. Officers said the collision happened around 12:10 p.m. near the 2400 block of Edison Highway, close to Exchange Street. Firefighters and CHP units responded to the scene after the two vehicles came together on the roadway.
Bakersfield Motorcyclist Injured in Two-Vehicle Crash on Edison Highway
The California Highway Patrol said firefighters located the rider on the ground upon arrival and began administering CPR at the scene. The CPR efforts were part of the broader emergency response to the crash. The collision also temporarily closed the westbound lanes of Edison Highway, which were reopened to traffic at approximately 1:25 p.m., according to the CHP report.
Investigators with the California Highway Patrol have not yet determined what led to the crash, and the case remains under review. Officers have not released information about how the two vehicles came into contact prior to the collision. The agency also has not identified the second driver or said whether any violations are suspected in connection with the crash.
How badly the rider was hurt remained unclear, and the California Highway Patrol had not confirmed her condition as of the latest report. No updates on her medical status had been made public at that time. The investigation into what caused the two-vehicle crash on Edison Highway remained open, with no additional findings released.
Lane splitting, and what the Vehicle Code actually says
Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines lane splitting and authorises the California Highway Patrol to develop educational guidelines for it. What matters after a crash is the distinction the section draws: lane splitting is not prohibited in California, and not prohibited is not the same thing as legal.
The practical effect is that a rider who was lane splitting has not broken a rule by doing so, and an insurer that treats lane splitting as automatic fault is asserting something the statute does not say. Fault still turns on how each party behaved, the same as in any other collision.
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.
