Fremont, CA, September 9 – David Elliot, 60, died after being struck by a vehicle while walking on Stevenson Boulevard early Monday morning, according to the Fremont Police Department. Officers responded to the area west of Marietta Drive around 4:15 a.m. after receiving reports of a pedestrian crash. Paramedics treated Elliot at the scene before taking him to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Fremont Pedestrian David Elliot Dies After Stevenson Boulevard Crash
A preliminary investigation found that Elliot was walking eastbound near the center median when he was struck by the left front portion of a passing vehicle, according to the Fremont Police Department. The department has not released additional information about how the vehicle was traveling or what preceded the crash.
The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene after the crash and cooperated with responding officers, according to the Fremont Police Department. Investigators said drugs and alcohol are not believed to have been factors in the crash. The case remains under active investigation, and no further findings have been announced.
Several details about the crash have not been made public. The Fremont Police Department has not released the driver’s identity, said whether any citations were issued, or explained what led the vehicle to strike Elliot. Investigators have said additional information is expected to be released to the public as the investigation 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.
