Quick Takeaways for Riders
- A motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a left-turning sedan on El Camino Real in Palo Alto in August 2026. The cause remains officially under investigation.
- Even when another driver is fully at fault, California’s insurance minimums often aren’t enough to cover a serious motorcycle injury or a wrongful death claim.
- Roughly 1 in 5 California drivers carries no insurance at all, and nationally, close to 1 in 3 drivers is uninsured or underinsured.
- Motorcyclists are about 27 times more likely than car occupants to die per mile traveled, which makes uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage especially critical for riders and their families.
- UM/UIM is optional in California. Most riders should carry significantly more than the state minimum. I recommend that all bikers carry the highest uninsured and underinsured limits available to them in California. I don’t sell insurance, and I never would, but the one thing I can’t change when a client calls me after a motorcycle collision with serious personal injuries or wrongful death is how much insurance they had before the crash happened.
What Happened on El Camino Real
In August 2026, a motorcyclist was killed in a crash on the 100 block of El Camino Real in Palo Alto. According to Palo Alto police, officers responded to the scene just before 4:30 p.m. after a collision between a motorcycle and a sedan. The rider, a man in his 20s, was ejected from the bike and later died at the hospital.
Investigators believe the motorcycle was traveling south when it collided with a sedan heading north that was turning left into a business. The driver, a woman in her 20s, stayed at the scene and cooperated with police. As of this writing, the exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, and no citation or finding of fault has been publicly reported.
Neither the driver’s nor the rider’s name has been released. Although I feel horrible for his family, I didn’t know him. I don’t know what he rode or where he was headed that afternoon. But I know El Camino Real, and I know the exact moment investigators are describing without needing to see it: a bike closing the distance in a straight line, a driver across the intersection deciding there’s just enough of a gap to beat the bike. Or maybe the driver didn’t see the motorcycle at all before they popped their left turn. Every rider I know has had that gap misjudged by someone else at least once. Most of us are lucky enough to walk away from that scenario, but many of my clients suffer catastrophic injuries caused by left-turning drivers. My condolences go out to this rider’s family. I don’t know if this biker was speeding or riding at the speed limit. I do know his family is grieving now, and I want to take this opportunity to provide a little advice in advance of any motorcycle crash in the future.
Left-Turn Crashes and Determining “Who’s at Fault?” Is Only Half the Battle
Under California law, a driver turning left generally must yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic that’s close enough to pose an immediate hazard. If the facts in this case end up matching what investigators currently describe — a motorcycle traveling straight through the intersection while a car turned left across its path — that is the classic fact pattern for left-turn liability. It’s also one of the most common ways motorcyclists get hit at intersections nationwide, largely because drivers are trained to scan for the shape and size of a car, truck, or bus, not a motorcycle. Most drivers simply don’t register an oncoming bike until it’s too late…