Fresno, CA, November 6 – A 51-year-old Fresno man died after his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck towing a livestock trailer in the area of Parkway Drive and Herndon Avenue just before 7 p.m. on November 4, according to the California Highway Patrol. The CHP’s report on the crash formed the basis for an earlier account of the incident, and Fresno police later confirmed the motorcyclist’s identity as Mathew Gibson.
Fresno Motorcyclist Identified as Mathew Gibson After Fatal Crash With Pickup Truck
According to the CHP, the pickup truck, a Dodge Ram flatbed towing a 28-foot livestock trailer, had just pulled out of an EZ Trip gas station and was making a left turn when Gibson, riding a Yamaha R6 motorcycle, struck its left side. The CHP said Gibson was traveling in the opposite direction from the truck’s turn and was wearing a helmet at the time of the collision.
Emergency personnel pronounced Gibson dead at the scene, according to Fresno police. The driver of the pickup truck was not injured and remained at the scene after the crash, the CHP reported. Alcohol and drugs did not appear to be contributing factors in the collision, according to the CHP, which said its investigation into the crash remains ongoing.
Authorities have not released the name of the truck’s driver, and no citations or arrests in connection with the crash have been reported. The exact cause of the collision has not been publicly determined, and investigators have not indicated when their inquiry into the circumstances might conclude. No additional details about the crash have been released since Gibson’s identity was confirmed.
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.
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.
