Fresno, CA, November 5 – A motorcyclist was fatally injured in a collision with a pickup truck hauling a livestock trailer on Wednesday evening in Fresno, according to a report by the California Highway Patrol. The truck had just pulled away from a gas station and was turning across the road when it was struck by an oncoming motorcycle. The rider, who was wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene, while the truck’s driver was not hurt and remained there afterward.
Fresno Motorcyclist Killed in Crash With Truck Towing Livestock Trailer on Parkway Drive
According to the California Highway Patrol, the crash took place around 6:50 p.m. on November 4 on Parkway Drive, north of Herndon Avenue, in Fresno. Investigators said a Dodge Ram flatbed pickup hauling a 28-foot livestock trailer had just pulled out of an EZ Trip gas station and was turning left to head south on Parkway Drive. A northbound Yamaha R6 motorcycle struck the left side of the truck during the turn.
The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet at the time of the collision, according to the California Highway Patrol, but was declared dead at the scene. The truck’s driver escaped injury and remained at the location following the crash. Investigators said alcohol and drugs are not believed to have been a factor in the collision.
The motorcyclist’s name had not been released as of the report. The California Highway Patrol has not released further details about the moments leading up to the collision, including what prompted the truck to turn in front of oncoming traffic. No other information about the crash has been made public, and the status of any investigation into the cause has not been disclosed.
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.
