Fresno, CA, September 10 – A 64-year-old Fresno man died Monday night after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a cart being towed by a bicyclist on North Avenue near Minnewawa Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol. The crash happened around 8:55 p.m. on September 7, 2026, when the motorcycle went down after striking the cart. The CHP said the bicyclist had been riding without lights in the dark at the time.
Fresno Motorcyclist Dies After Colliding With Cart Towed by Bicycle
The California Highway Patrol said the bicyclist was riding eastbound in the wrong lane while towing the cart, the same lane the motorcyclist was traveling in. Investigators said the darkness, combined with the cart having no lights, made it difficult for the motorcyclist to see it in time to avoid the collision. The impact knocked the motorcycle down, according to the CHP.
The CHP did not release the motorcyclist’s name in its initial report on the crash. Authorities later identified him as 64-year-old Gregory Hansen, a Fresno resident who was riding a 2005 Harley-Davidson motorcycle at the time. Hansen was taken to a hospital after the collision, where he was treated for his injuries and later died.
The California Highway Patrol has not said whether the bicyclist will face a citation, and no arrest has been reported in connection with the crash. The agency has not released the bicyclist’s identity or explained why the cart was in the roadway without lights after dark. It also has not said whether the bicyclist was injured in the collision.
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.
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.
