Hanford, CA, November 10 – One person died and another was hurt in a two-vehicle crash involving a red Dodge Journey and a tan sedan, according to the California Highway Patrol. The person who died was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other person was taken to a hospital in Fresno. Officials have not released the identity of the person who was killed, and the crash remains under investigation.
Hanford Crash on 10th Avenue Leaves One Dead, One Injured
CHP said the crash happened around 2:08 p.m. Tuesday on 10th Avenue near Niles Avenue in Hanford. Responders towed both vehicles, the red Dodge Journey and the tan sedan, from the roadway after the collision. No further description of either vehicle or its occupants was included in the CHP’s report.
Southbound lanes near the crash site were shut down for a time but reopened by about 3:53 p.m., CHP reported. The person who survived the crash was taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno; their condition had not been disclosed as of the CHP’s report. No timeline for when the lanes closed was given.
CHP has not said what led to the collision, and the investigation remains open. Investigators have not indicated whether speed, impairment or driver error contributed to the crash, or whether either driver may face a citation. CHP has not given a timeline for when the investigation might be completed or when additional details may be released.
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 January 1, 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.
