Modesto, CA, October 2 – A 63-year-old pedestrian died after being struck by a car, according to Modesto police. The pedestrian has been named as Darrell Kostner, who was also 63. Police have released only a limited set of details about the crash, and the account below reflects what they have said so far, without adding anything beyond their official summary of the incident. The post is based on that summary alone.
Modesto pedestrian, 63, dies after being struck by car
Modesto police said the collision happened around 6:10 a.m. on Thursday, near Claus Road and East Orangeburg Avenue. The time and location are the specifics included in the police account used for this post, so they are the only confirmed details about when and where the crash took place for now.
The pedestrian was crossing the street in a wheelchair when the car struck him. The driver remained at the scene after the collision and cooperated with authorities, which the police account reports without describing what that cooperation involved. Those two facts are the only details the account gives about the people involved in the crash.
Several key points remain unconfirmed. The summary does not say what led to the collision, and it does not indicate whether the investigation is still active. It also does not name the driver. Until police release more, the cause and the circumstances of the crash remain unknown to the public at this time.
What California law requires of drivers around pedestrians
Vehicle Code section 21950 requires a driver to yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing within any marked crosswalk, or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Subdivision (b) is the one people misread: a pedestrian may walk or run, and doing either does not forfeit the right of way.
Subdivision (c) puts a separate duty on the driver. A driver approaching a pedestrian in any crosswalk must exercise all due care and reduce the speed of the vehicle. That duty applies whether or not the pedestrian had the right of way, and subdivision (d) preserves it: nothing in the section relieves a driver of the duty to use due care for the safety of any pedestrian in the roadway.
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.
