Desert Center, CA, October 30 – A motorcyclist, age 48, was left with major injuries Thursday night when his motorcycle struck a big rig that had been parked along a Desert Center road, authorities reported. The California Highway Patrol said the man was taken for medical treatment following the impact, though his identity has not been made public. Investigators noted that the motorcycle had been traveling on a nearby state route, and they are still working to determine exactly what caused the crash to occur.
Desert Center Motorcyclist Suffers Major Injuries in Crash With Parked Big Rig
According to the CHP, the collision occurred on Ragsdale Road and was called in shortly after 9 p.m. on October 29. Investigators said the motorcycle involved was a Harley-Davidson that had been headed along State Route 177 before it struck a parked Freightliner truck-tractor, which was hauling a trailer at the time. How fast the motorcycle was moving when it hit the rig has not yet been confirmed by investigators.
The injured rider was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs for treatment, the CHP reported, though his name has not been made public. The agency said the cause of the crash is still being investigated, and it added that driving under the influence was not suspected as a contributing factor in the collision.
A number of details in this case remain unclear. The CHP has not specified exactly what led the motorcycle to collide with the stationary truck-tractor, nor has it indicated whether any citations will result from the investigation. Updates on the rider’s condition following his hospital transport have not been made available, and the timeline for completing the investigation has not been announced.
Lane splitting, and what the Vehicle Code actually says
Vehicle Code section 21658.1 defines lane splitting and authorizes 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.
