A tragic pedestrian fatality occurred on Highway 99 in central Fresno late Tuesday night, November 18, 2025, when a 25-year-old man was struck and killed by a semi-truck. The incident has left the community mourning another life lost on one of California’s busiest and most dangerous highways. This heartbreaking collision underscores the extreme dangers pedestrians face when walking along high-speed roadways designed exclusively for vehicle traffic. For the victim’s family, this sudden and devastating loss has created unimaginable grief and raised difficult questions about how such tragedies can be prevented in the future.
Details of the Highway 99 Pedestrian Accident
According to the California Highway Patrol, the fatal collision took place just after 10:30 p.m. on the northbound lanes of Highway 99, south of Clinton Avenue in central Fresno. Investigators reported that the young man had been walking in a traffic lane when he was struck by the big rig.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not been publicly released pending notification of family members.
The truck driver remained at the scene following the collision and cooperated fully with investigating officers. Authorities stated that the driver showed no signs of impairment at the time of the accident.
Northbound Highway 99 was closed for several hours during the overnight investigation, causing significant traffic delays for commuters. The highway has since reopened to normal traffic flow. The California Highway Patrol continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding this deadly incident.
Why Pedestrian Accidents on Highways Are So Dangerous
Highways like Highway 99 are designed exclusively for vehicle traffic traveling at high speeds, making them extremely hazardous for pedestrians. When someone walks along or attempts to cross a highway, they face numerous life-threatening dangers:
High-Speed Traffic: Vehicles on Highway 99 routinely travel at speeds of 65 mph or higher. At these velocities, drivers have drastically reduced reaction times and stopping distances. Even an attentive driver may be unable to avoid striking a pedestrian who suddenly appears in their path.
Limited Visibility: Highways often lack adequate lighting, particularly in stretches outside urban centers. During nighttime hours, as in this tragic case, pedestrians dressed in dark clothing become nearly invisible to approaching drivers until it’s too late.
Commercial Vehicle Hazards: Semi-trucks and other large commercial vehicles present unique dangers to pedestrians. These massive vehicles have extensive blind spots, require significantly longer stopping distances than passenger cars, and can cause catastrophic injuries even at relatively low speeds due to their tremendous weight.
Lack of Safe Walking Areas: Highways are not equipped with sidewalks, crosswalks, or other pedestrian safety features found on surface streets. Anyone walking on a highway is forced to share the roadway with fast-moving traffic, with no protective barriers or designated safe zones.
Driver Expectations: Motorists on highways do not anticipate encountering pedestrians and may not be scanning for them. This creates a dangerous mismatch between driver expectations and actual road conditions.
Pedestrians struck by vehicles on highways face a mortality rate significantly higher than those involved in collisions on regular streets. The combination of high speeds, vehicle mass, and lack of protective infrastructure makes survival unlikely in most highway pedestrian accidents.
Common Causes of Pedestrian-Truck Accidents
Collisions between pedestrians and large trucks occur for various reasons, and understanding these causes is essential for prevention and determining liability:
Pedestrian Factors: Individuals may end up walking on highways due to vehicle breakdowns, disorientation, intoxication, mental health crises, or attempts to take shortcuts. Some pedestrians may not fully appreciate the dangers posed by high-speed traffic.
Driver Visibility Issues: Even attentive truck drivers face challenges in detecting pedestrians on highways, especially at night. The elevated cab position, extensive blind spots around the vehicle, and limited peripheral vision when focused on the road ahead all contribute to detection failures.
Inadequate Highway Lighting: Poorly lit stretches of highway dramatically increase collision risk. When pedestrians cannot be seen until they’re within a vehicle’s headlight beam, drivers may have only seconds to react.
Distracted Driving: Despite the truck driver in this incident showing no signs of impairment, distracted driving remains a leading cause of pedestrian-truck accidents. Drivers who are texting, adjusting GPS systems, eating, or otherwise diverted from the road may fail to notice pedestrians until impact is unavoidable.
Impaired Driving: Truck drivers operating under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or certain medications pose extreme dangers to all road users, including pedestrians. Impairment slows reaction times and impairs judgment.
Driver Fatigue: Commercial truck drivers often work long hours and may drive while drowsy, particularly during overnight hours when this accident occurred. Fatigued drivers experience delayed reactions similar to impaired drivers.
Excessive Speed: Drivers exceeding posted speed limits have less time to react to unexpected hazards and need greater distances to stop their vehicles.
Vehicle Maintenance Issues: Trucks with poorly maintained brakes, worn tires, or defective lighting systems may be unable to stop quickly enough to avoid pedestrians, even when drivers react appropriately.
Determining the precise cause of a pedestrian-truck accident requires thorough investigation by law enforcement and, when legal claims are pursued, by experienced accident reconstruction experts working with qualified attorneys.
Legal Rights of Pedestrian Accident Victims and Their Families
When a pedestrian is killed in a collision with a commercial truck, their surviving family members have important legal rights under California law. Understanding these rights is the first step toward obtaining justice and financial recovery:
Wrongful Death Claims: California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60 allows certain surviving family members to file wrongful death lawsuits when a loved one dies due to another party’s negligence or wrongful act. Eligible claimants typically include the deceased’s spouse, domestic partner, children, and in some cases, parents or other dependents.
Through a wrongful death claim, families can seek compensation for their losses, including funeral and burial expenses, loss of financial support the deceased would have provided, loss of companionship and guidance, and the emotional pain and suffering caused by their loved one’s death.
Survival Actions: Separate from wrongful death claims, California law also permits survival actions under Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.30. These claims seek damages the deceased would have been entitled to pursue had they survived, including medical expenses incurred before death, pain and suffering experienced between the injury and death, and lost wages or income from the time of injury until death.
Potential Liable Parties: Liability in pedestrian-truck accidents may extend beyond the individual driver. Potentially liable parties can include the truck driver if their negligence caused the accident, the trucking company that employed the driver (under vicarious liability principles), the truck owner if different from the driver or company, vehicle manufacturers if mechanical defects contributed to the collision, government entities responsible for highway design or maintenance if dangerous road conditions played a role, and cargo loading companies if improper loading affected the truck’s operation or visibility.
Statute of Limitations: California imposes strict time limits for filing personal injury and wrongful death claims. Generally, wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the deceased’s death. However, claims against government entities require filing an administrative claim within six months, making prompt legal action essential.
California’s Comparative Negligence System: California follows a “pure comparative negligence” rule, meaning that even if the deceased pedestrian bore some responsibility for the accident, their family may still recover damages. Compensation would be reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to the deceased, but recovery is not barred entirely.
For families grieving the loss of a loved one, navigating these complex legal issues can feel overwhelming. Consulting with an experienced wrongful death attorney ensures that your rights are protected and that you pursue all available avenues for compensation.
Steps to Take After a Fatal Pedestrian Accident
When a family member dies in a pedestrian accident, survivors face not only devastating emotional trauma but also important practical and legal considerations. Taking the following steps can help protect your family’s interests:
Obtain the Official Accident Report: Contact the California Highway Patrol to request a copy of the accident report. This document contains crucial details about the collision, including officer observations, witness statements, and preliminary determinations about fault. The report serves as foundational evidence for any legal claim.
Preserve Evidence: If possible, photograph the accident scene, including road conditions, lighting, signage, and any visible vehicle damage. Collect contact information from witnesses who may have seen the accident. Save any personal belongings of your loved one that might be relevant, such as clothing they were wearing.
Document Your Losses: Keep detailed records of all accident-related expenses, including funeral and burial costs, medical bills if your loved one received treatment before death, travel expenses for family members attending services, and lost wages if you must take time off work to handle arrangements.
Avoid Early Settlement Offers: Insurance companies may contact you quickly after the accident with settlement offers. These initial offers are typically far below the true value of your claim. Do not accept any settlement or sign any documents without first consulting an attorney.
Consult a Wrongful Death Attorney: California wrongful death cases involving commercial trucks are legally complex, often involving multiple parties, extensive investigations, and aggressive insurance defense tactics. An experienced attorney can evaluate your case, identify all potentially liable parties, handle communications with insurance companies, conduct independent investigations, retain expert witnesses when needed, and fight for maximum compensation on your behalf.
Understand Your Financial Options: Wrongful death attorneys typically work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay no upfront costs and attorney fees are only collected if you receive compensation. This arrangement ensures that families can pursue justice regardless of their financial circumstances.
Take Care of Your Emotional Health: The loss of a family member in a sudden, violent accident creates profound trauma. Consider seeking support from grief counselors, support groups, or mental health professionals as you navigate this difficult time.
Time is critical in wrongful death cases. Evidence can disappear, witnesses’ memories fade, and legal deadlines approach. Acting promptly protects your family’s right to compensation and ensures the strongest possible case.
How GJEL Accident Attorneys Can Help Your Family
At GJEL Accident Attorneys, we understand that no amount of compensation can truly make up for the loss of a loved one. However, we also recognize that families facing wrongful death deserve justice and the financial resources to move forward with dignity.
Our firm has spent decades representing California families in wrongful death cases involving pedestrian accidents, truck collisions, and highway tragedies. We bring comprehensive legal expertise, compassionate client service, and a proven track record of results to every case we handle.
Our approach includes:
Thorough Investigation: We conduct detailed investigations into every aspect of your loved one’s accident, working with accident reconstruction experts, reviewing highway design and maintenance records, obtaining truck driver logs and employment records, analyzing vehicle maintenance records and black box data, and interviewing witnesses to establish a complete picture of what happened.
Identifying All Liable Parties: Commercial truck accidents often involve multiple potentially liable parties. We examine every angle to ensure no responsible party escapes accountability, maximizing your family’s potential recovery.
Fighting for Full Compensation: We pursue compensation for all losses your family has suffered, including economic damages like funeral expenses, lost financial support, and medical bills, and non-economic damages such as loss of companionship, guidance, and the emotional impact on surviving family members.
No Fees Unless We Win: We handle wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing upfront, and we only collect attorney fees if we successfully recover compensation for your family. This means you can pursue justice without financial risk.
Personalized, Compassionate Service: We treat every client as family, providing the personal attention, clear communication, and compassionate support you deserve during this difficult time.
The loss of a family member is life-altering. While we cannot undo the tragedy, we can fight to ensure your family receives the justice and compensation you deserve.
Understanding Pedestrian Accident Settlement Calculators
Pedestrian accident settlement calculators are valuable online tools designed to help victims and their families estimate the potential compensation they may receive in a wrongful death or personal injury claim. These calculators work by taking into account various factors that influence settlement values, including medical expenses incurred before death, funeral and burial costs, lost income and future earning capacity, loss of companionship and emotional support, pain and suffering experienced by both the victim and surviving family members, and other economic and non-economic damages specific to the case.
Users typically input information about the accident circumstances, the extent of injuries or fatalities, financial losses, and family structure to generate an estimated settlement range. While these calculators provide helpful preliminary estimates that can give families a general understanding of what their claim might be worth, it’s important to recognize their limitations.
Every pedestrian accident case is unique, and actual settlement values depend on numerous factors that online calculators cannot fully assess, such as the strength of evidence, the skill of legal representation, the jurisdiction where the claim is filed, the defendant’s insurance policy limits, and the specific circumstances of liability. Settlement calculators should be viewed as educational starting points rather than definitive valuations.
For an accurate assessment of your wrongful death claim’s value, consulting with an experienced pedestrian accident attorney who can thoroughly evaluate all aspects of your case, including factors that generic calculators might overlook, remains essential. At GJEL Accident Attorneys, we provide personalized case evaluations that consider the full scope of your family’s losses and the legal complexities involved in pedestrian-truck accidents, ensuring you pursue the maximum compensation available under California law. Call us now at +1-866-218-3776 to speak with our experts.
Our Commitment: No Fees Unless We Win Your Case
“Losing a loved one who was simply walking along a highway is an absolutely heartbreaking tragedy that no family should ever have to endure. The grief you’re experiencing right now is profound, and I want you to know that your pain and your loss matter deeply. While nothing can bring back your family member, you have legal rights that deserve to be protected, and those responsible must be held accountable. In cases like this Highway 99 collision, families often face difficult questions: Why was my loved one on the highway? Could this have been prevented? Who is responsible? These are questions that deserve thorough investigation and honest answers. Whether the trucking company failed to properly train their driver, whether inadequate highway lighting played a role, or whether other factors contributed to this tragedy, you deserve to know the full truth. Don’t let insurance companies minimize your loss or pressure you into a quick settlement that fails to reflect the true value of your loved one’s life. California law gives you the right to pursue full compensation for your family’s suffering, and we’re here to ensure you receive every dollar you’re entitled to. If your family has been affected by this or any pedestrian accident, please reach out to us. We’ll handle the legal burden so you can focus on grieving and healing. You don’t have to face this alone.” – Andy Gillin, GJEL Accident Attorneys
If you’ve lost a loved one in a pedestrian accident on Highway 99 or anywhere in Fresno County, the time to act is now. At GJEL Accident Attorneys, we fight tirelessly for families devastated by wrongful death, and we do so on a contingency fee basis – which means you pay absolutely nothing upfront, no retainer fees, no hourly charges, and no out-of-pocket costs while we investigate and pursue your claim. We only collect attorney fees if we successfully recover compensation for your family, so there is zero financial risk to you.
This arrangement ensures that every family, regardless of their financial situation, has access to the aggressive, experienced legal representation they deserve during this devastating time. Don’t let insurance companies pressure you into accepting inadequate settlements or allow critical evidence to disappear while you wait. California law imposes strict deadlines for filing wrongful death claims, and every day that passes can jeopardize your family’s right to justice and fair compensation.
Contact GJEL Accident Attorneys today for your free, confidential consultation. We’ll listen to your story, answer all your questions, explain your legal options in clear terms, and fight relentlessly to hold negligent parties accountable. Your family deserves justice, and we’re here to deliver it – with no fees unless we win. Let our experienced legal team shoulder the legal burden while you focus on what matters most – your family’s healing and recovery. Contact us today at +1-866-218-3776 or visit our Hayward office.
Fresno Resources for Accident Victims and Their Families
Families coping with the loss of a loved one in a fatal accident may benefit from various local resources:
California Highway Patrol – Fresno Area Office
2525 South Mooney Boulevard
Visalia, CA 93277
(559) 737-3600
Website: https://www.chp.ca.gov/find-an-office/central-division/fresno
For obtaining accident reports and information about the investigation.
Fresno Police Department
2323 Mariposa Street
Fresno, CA 93721
Non-Emergency: (559) 621-7000
Website: https://www.fresno.gov/police/
For accident reports and information on incidents within city limits.
Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office
2200 Fresno Street
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 600-3400
Website: https://www.fresnosheriff.org/divisions/coroners-division/
For information regarding autopsy reports and official cause of death determinations.
Fresno Council of Governments (Fresno COG)
2035 Tulare Street, Suite 201
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 233-4148
Website: https://www.fresnocog.org/
Regional transportation planning agency that addresses highway safety issues and traffic concerns.
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) – District 6
1352 West Olive Avenue
Fresno, CA 93728
(559) 445-6000
Website: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-6
For reporting highway hazards, lighting issues, and road safety concerns on state highways including Highway 99.
Community Behavioral Health
4441 East Kings Canyon Road
Fresno, CA 93702
(559) 600-9327
Website: https://www.co.fresno.ca.us/departments/behavioral-health
Provides grief counseling and mental health services for individuals and families.
Fresno County Victim Services
2220 Tulare Street, Suite B
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 600-1000
Website: https://www.co.fresno.ca.us/departments/district-attorney/victim-services
Offers support services, advocacy, and resources for crime and accident victims and their families.
Hinds Hospice – Grief Support Services
1616 West Shaw Avenue, Suite 100
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 449-4550
Website: https://www.hindshospice.org/grief-support/
Provides grief support groups and counseling services for families coping with loss.
California Victim Compensation Board
P.O. Box 3036
Sacramento, CA 95812-3036
Toll-Free: (800) 777-9229
Website: https://victims.ca.gov/
Provides financial assistance to victims of violent crime, including some traffic-related incidents, to help cover expenses such as funeral costs, counseling, and lost wages.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Toll-Free: (888) 327-4236
Website: https://www.nhtsa.gov/
Federal agency offering resources on highway safety, crash statistics, and victim assistance programs.
Safe Transportation Research & Education Center (SafeTREC)
UC Berkeley
Website: https://safetrec.berkeley.edu/
Provides traffic safety data, resources, and advocacy for safer roadways throughout California.
Fresno County Public Library – Legal Resources
2420 Mariposa Street
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 600-7323
Website: https://www.fresnolibrary.org/
Offers free access to legal research databases and self-help legal resources for families navigating the legal system.
