San Jose, CA, November 8 – A two-vehicle crash left one person dead and four others injured on Sunday evening, according to the San Jose Police Department. A passenger in one of the vehicles was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the San Jose Fire Department, and that vehicle’s driver was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. The three occupants of the second vehicle were also taken to a hospital, with less serious injuries, police said.
San Jose crash on Tully Road leaves one dead, four injured
According to the San Jose Police Department, the crash happened at about 5:44 p.m. on November 8, on Tully Road between Glen Angus Way and South White Road. Investigators said two vehicles were involved in the collision, though the specific circumstances that led to the crash were not immediately established.
The San Jose Fire Department responded to the scene, where a passenger in one of the vehicles was declared deceased. The driver of that vehicle was taken to a hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries. All three occupants of the second vehicle were also transported to a hospital, though their injuries were described as less severe than those suffered by the first vehicle’s occupants.
Police said Tully Road was temporarily closed in both directions while officers investigated and cleared the scene. The crash also prompted the closure of South White Road between Tully Road and Cunningham Avenue. The San Jose Police Department said it is continuing to investigate the crash to determine what caused it.
As of this report, the San Jose Police Department has not released the identities of those involved, nor has it said what caused the two-vehicle crash. It also remains unknown whether speed, impairment, or any other factor contributed, and no citations or arrests had been reported in connection with the collision, according to police, as the investigation continues.
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.
