Fresno, CA, September 29 – Two men died and a third person was hospitalized after a crash on Lincoln Avenue in Fresno on Monday morning, according to authorities. The collision occurred at around 8:00 a.m. on September 28. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office identified the men who died as Diego Garcia Tepec, 56, of Fresno, and Juan Ortega Juarez, 57, who was riding as a passenger in Tepec’s car.
Fresno Crash on Lincoln Avenue Kills Two, Driver Hospitalized
According to the California Highway Patrol, Tepec was behind the wheel of a Nissan Sentra when a Honda Civic hit the car from behind. The impact killed both Tepec and Juarez, who was riding in the Nissan at the time, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said. The Sheriff’s Office described the two men as the only fatalities in the crash.
The driver of the Honda Civic was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol. That driver’s name, age and hometown have not been released. The crash left one person injured in addition to the two men who died, based on the details authorities have made public so far.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the collision, and the agency has not announced any findings about what caused it. It has not said whether speed or impaired driving were factors, or whether any citations have been issued. The exact cause of the collision remains unclear, and no additional details had been released as of this report.
What the at-fault driver is required to carry, and why it often is not enough
Vehicle Code section 16056 sets California’s minimum liability limits, and they changed recently. For a policy issued or renewed on or after 1 January 2025, the minimum is $30,000 for injury to or death of one person, $60,000 where two or more people are hurt, and $15,000 for property damage. Policies written before that date may still carry the older minimum of $15,000, $30,000 and $5,000.
Those are floors, not typical limits, and a single hospital admission can exhaust the lower figure before any other loss is counted. Where the at-fault driver carries the minimum, the uninsured and underinsured motorist cover on the injured person’s own policy is often the part that matters most, and it is worth checking early rather than after the other insurer has made an offer.
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.
