Bakersfield, CA, October 12 – A man was killed late Friday night when a hit-and-run driver struck him as he was crossing Brundage Lane, according to the Bakersfield Police Department. The driver left the scene immediately afterward without stopping. Police said a suspect was later identified, tracked down and arrested on suspicion of causing a fatal hit-and-run. The man’s identity has not yet been made public by investigators.
Bakersfield Pedestrian Dies After Hit-and-Run on Brundage Lane
According to the Bakersfield Police Department, the crash happened just before 10:20 p.m. on October 9 in the 900 block of Brundage Lane. Police said the man was in a marked crosswalk, crossing against a red light, when a vehicle heading west through a green signal struck him. Investigators said speed and impairment were not factors in the crash.
Officers who responded to the scene located the man lying in the roadway, suffering from major injuries, the Bakersfield Police Department said. He was transported to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries. The driver did not stop after striking him, leaving the scene before officers or paramedics could arrive.
The Bakersfield Police Department said investigators identified a 29-year-old woman as the suspected driver in the case. Police said the woman was tracked down and taken into custody on suspicion of causing a fatal hit-and-run, then held at the Kern County Jail. No additional details about the investigation have been released, and the man’s identity remains unconfirmed as the case continues.
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.
