Gardena, CA, November 11 – A motorcyclist has been identified as Romario Ribeiro, 30, after he died in a crash involving a Mercedes-Benz, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner. The Gardena Police Department said the collision happened just before 5:50 p.m. on November 3 at El Segundo Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. Ribeiro was later pronounced dead, and the Gardena Police Department’s Traffic Bureau is now investigating the crash.
Gardena Motorcyclist Killed in Crash With Mercedes-Benz Identified as Romario Ribeiro
The Gardena Police Department said the crash involved a motorcycle and a Mercedes-Benz. Police and the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the scene. Ribeiro, who was riding the motorcycle, was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. The Gardena Police Department has not released further details about how the two vehicles collided.
The driver of the Mercedes-Benz remained at the scene after the crash and cooperated with investigators, according to the Gardena Police Department. No information about the other driver’s identity, age or condition has been released. The Gardena Police Department has not indicated whether the other driver was injured in the crash.
The Gardena Police Department’s Traffic Bureau is investigating the crash. It has not been reported whether any citations or arrests resulted from the crash, and investigators have not said what caused the collision. Details about the sequence of events leading up to the collision, including what each vehicle was doing immediately before impact, have not been released. The investigation remains open, and no further updates have been issued.
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.
