San Jose, CA, September 14 – A two-vehicle collision involving a white SUV and a possible sewage tanker left minor injuries on southbound Highway 101 Sunday morning. According to California Highway Patrol logs, the wreck was reported around 7:06 a.m. The tanker ended up against the guardrail on the right shoulder, where it appeared to be leaking blue sewage. It was unclear if anyone was hospitalized.
San Jose Highway 101 Crash Near Hellyer Avenue Leaves Minor Injuries, Sewage Leak
California Highway Patrol logs show the collision was reported around 7:06 a.m. on September 13, 2026, on southbound Highway 101, just south of the Hellyer Avenue on-ramp in San Jose. A white SUV and a possible sewage tanker were involved. The tanker came to rest against the guardrail on the right-hand shoulder, where it appeared to be leaking blue sewage onto the roadway.
Firefighters responded to the scene and contained the leakage from the tanker. Minor injuries were reported in the collision. Several traffic lanes were closed following the crash, including the Hellyer Avenue on-ramp lanes leading to southbound Highway 101.
It remains unclear whether anyone involved in the collision was hospitalized. CHP logs reviewed for this report do not state a cause for the crash or identify the drivers involved. No further details had been released as of this report.
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.
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.
