Hemet, CA, October 17 – A motorcycle and a car were involved in a fatal collision on Saturday afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol. Two people were riding the motorcycle at the time of the crash. One injured person was taken to Hemet Valley Medical Center with minor injuries, according to an incident log. The circumstances that led to the crash remain under investigation.
Hemet Motorcycle and Car Collision Turns Fatal
Investigators with the California Highway Patrol say the collision happened at the intersection of Stetson Avenue and Lake Street in Hemet at approximately 4:29 p.m. One of the two motorcycle occupants was found in a nearby field, while the other was reported down in the traffic lanes. The incident log also indicates that both the motorcycle and the SUV were being processed as evidence in the investigation.
Cal Fire crews joined California Highway Patrol officers in responding to the scene. Authorities also requested a road closure at Stetson Avenue and Soboba Street and stationed a traffic unit near Fairview Avenue to manage the area while the investigation and scene response continued through the afternoon, according to the incident log.
The California Highway Patrol has not released the identity of anyone killed in the crash, nor the ages or hometowns of those involved. The exact cause of the collision has not been determined, and the agency has not reported any citations or arrests. Details about how the motorcycle and the SUV came into contact have also not been released. The CHP’s investigation into the crash remains open.
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.
