Lake Forest, CA, September 16 – A wrong-way collision on the 241 Toll Road left two people dead and sent a 7-year-old girl to the hospital, according to a local news source. The crash happened Thursday night when a Honda SUV traveling north in the southbound lanes struck a BMW sedan. Both drivers were killed, and the child, a passenger in the BMW, was taken for treatment. Her condition has not been released. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
Lake Forest Wrong-Way Crash on 241 Toll Road Kills Two, Injures Child
The fatal crash occurred at about 10:35 p.m. on September 11, 2026, on the 241 Toll Road in Lake Forest, killing two people, according to the California Highway Patrol. The victims were identified as 57-year-old Norma Herrera of Irvine and 39-year-old Joseph Kyle Massey of Rancho Santa Margarita. A 7-year-old girl who was riding in the same vehicle as Massey was taken to a hospital after the crash.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Herrera was driving a Honda SUV north in the southbound lanes when it collided with a BMW sedan carrying Massey and the girl. Both drivers died in the crash. The girl, a passenger in the BMW, was hospitalized for treatment, though authorities have not released information about the extent of her injuries or her current condition.
The circumstances that led the Honda to travel the wrong way remain unclear. Investigators are also working to determine whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the collision, according to the California Highway Patrol. As of this report, the girl’s condition and the cause of the wrong-way crash have not been 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 1 January 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.
