Pedestrian, CA, November 14 – A 14-year-old girl has died after a pedestrian collision in west Phoenix, according to police. The crash happened Wednesday afternoon near 107th Avenue, just north of Indian School Road, and involved a passenger vehicle and two girls who were crossing the street. Both girls were taken to a local hospital, and the 14-year-old died the next day. The driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with officers, and authorities said they do not believe impairment was a factor.
Phoenix teen dies after pedestrian collision near 107th Avenue and Indian School Road
Police said the collision happened at about 3:45 p.m. The two girls, ages 11 and 14, were crossing the street when a 2012 Kia Soul traveling southbound on 107th Avenue was involved in the crash. Police have not said whether the girls were using a crosswalk, and the account released so far does not describe exactly how the vehicle and the girls came into contact.
Both girls were taken to a local hospital for treatment. The 14-year-old died the following day. The name of the hospital has not been made public, and no information has been released about the condition of the 11-year-old. The driver of the Kia remained at the scene and cooperated with police, according to authorities.
The account released so far does not mention any citation or arrest, and the cause of the collision has not been determined. The names of the girls, the speed of the vehicle and the identity of the driver have not been released. Those details remain unconfirmed, and more information may become available if police release it.
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.
