Claude A. Wyle is a motorcycle accident attorney at Choulos Choulos & Wyle and has ridden for more than 50 years on the same San Francisco Bay Area and Peninsula roads discussed in this post. This article is offered for general information only — please see the disclaimer at the end.
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.
But here's what a lot of riders and families don't realize until they're living it: even an open-and-shut liability case doesn't guarantee a full recovery. Fault tells you who owes the money. It doesn't tell you whether they can pay it.
California Just Raised Its Minimum Insurance Requirements. It's Still Not Enough.
As of January 1, 2025, California requires drivers to carry at least $30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 in property damage — the new 30/60/15 limits under SB 1107, up from the old 15/30/5 minimums that had been on the books since 1967. It's a real improvement. It's also nowhere close to enough to cover a fatal motorcycle accident or, frankly, most injuries a motorcyclist is likely to suffer even in a routine collision.
Consider what $30,000 actually buys in a case like this. A single day in the ICU can burn through that. Helicopter transport alone can cost much more. Add a hospital stay, surgery, a funeral, lost future income, and a family's loss of companionship, and a fatal or catastrophic motorcycle crash can easily produce damages in the high six or seven figures — while the at-fault driver's entire policy might offer only $30,000 total.
And that assumes the driver is carrying the bare minimum required by law. Many aren't.
The Coverage Gap Nobody Budgets For
Insurance industry data paints a fairly stark picture of what's actually on California's roads. An estimated 20.4% of California drivers — roughly 1 in 5 — carry no liability insurance at all, giving California the 8th-highest uninsured-driver rate in the country, according to a 2025 Insurance Research Council report published through the Insurance Information Institute. Add in drivers who carry some insurance, but not enough to cover a serious crash, and nationally, close to 1 in 3 drivers (33.4%) is either uninsured or underinsured.
Younger, newer drivers are statistically the group most likely to carry only the state-mandated minimum. They've had less time to build savings or shop around, and insurers charge them the highest premiums for any given level of coverage — which tends to push many of them straight to the legal floor.
To be clear, we don't know what coverage the driver in this specific crash carried, and that information isn't public. But it tells you something important about the odds every rider is already living with. On any given California road, roughly one in three drivers sharing it with you either can't pay for a serious crash or they can't pay for all of it.
Why This Risk Falls Hardest on Motorcyclists
This isn't an abstract risk for riders — it's the central risk of riding. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcyclists were almost 27 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die per mile traveled in 2024, and almost 5 times more likely to be injured. We don't have the crumple zones, airbags, or steel cage that make so many car crashes survivable. When a rider gets hit, the injuries tend to be catastrophic by default, which means the cost of a motorcycle claim blows past policy limits far more often, and far faster, than a typical fender-bender ever would.
Put simply: motorcyclists are the road users most likely to need more insurance money than the at-fault driver has, in exactly the scenario where that money matters most.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) Coverage: The Fix Most Riders Skip
This is where uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage — UM/UIM — comes in. It's coverage on your own policy that pays out when the at-fault driver has no insurance (uninsured motorist) or not enough insurance to cover your damages (underinsured motorist). It doesn't raise your rates because of someone else's crash, and it doesn't depend on the at-fault driver's cooperation, honesty, or solvency. It's your own safety net, sitting behind theirs.
A few things every rider should know:
- California does not require you to carry UM/UIM. Insurers must offer it to you at the same limits as your liability coverage, but you can decline it — and if you do, you have to sign a written waiver. Many riders sign that waiver without realizing what they're giving up.
- UM/UIM is not the same as health insurance or medical payments coverage. It's built to replace lost income and to compensate for long-term care, pain and suffering, and wrongful death — the categories of loss that actually devastate families after a serious crash.
- Matching the state minimum isn't a strategy — it's a gap waiting to happen. Attorneys who handle serious injury cases routinely recommend UM/UIM limits well above the state floor, often $100,000/$300,000 or higher, with an umbrella policy layered on top for riders who own a home or have other assets to protect.
- If you ride with a passenger, confirm your UM/UIM limits account for two people, not one.
A Rider's Advice to Fellow Riders
I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was 13 years old, and riding on the street since I was 16. Mostly, I ride the backroads of Northern California, closer to the San Francisco Bay Area, but I have ridden up and down this whole state several times. My street intersects Highway 1 in Marin County, and that is usually where my friends, partners, and I like to ride.
I began representing motorcycle crash survivors because several of my riding friends were hurt through the carelessness of car or truck drivers. In my earlier years, I was outraged that people who didn't ride were so prejudiced against motorcyclists. I didn't like the discount that insurance companies thought they could get because my clients were riding bikes as opposed to driving in cars.
I believe that motorcycle riding is a valuable alternative to driving a car, that it is good for our community, and that motorcycling needs to be made safer so more people want to ride. One way we make motorcycle riding safer is by making the negligent drivers of cars, buses, and trucks fully accountable for the harm they cause to motorcyclists and their families. When we make wrongdoers accountable for their actions, hopefully we can change their bad behavior and make motorcycle riding safer and more acceptable. Change has been slow indeed, but we are making progress.
I ride because I love it, not because it's safe, and I don't think any of us are under an illusion about that trade-off. But loving the ride doesn't mean ignoring the paperwork that decides what happens to the people left behind if a driver negligently misjudges a gap and takes a left in the path of a biker. Checking your UM/UIM limits takes 15 minutes and one phone call to your agent. It may be the least exciting and most important thing you do for your riding all year.
If You or Someone You Love Was Hurt in a Motorcycle Crash
If you've been injured, or you've lost someone, in a motorcycle accident in Palo Alto or anywhere in Northern California, you don't have to sort out fault, policy limits, and UM/UIM claims on your own. Choulos Choulos & Wyle offers free, no-obligation consultations for motorcycle accident cases. Call 415-432-7290 (my direct line) or reach out through ccwlawyers.com to talk about what happened and what your legal options are — including any options you may have even if the at-fault driver turns out to be uninsured or underinsured.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage? UM/UIM is an add-on protection on your own auto or motorcycle policy that pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance (uninsured) or not enough insurance to cover your damages (underinsured).
Is UM/UIM coverage required in California? No. California requires insurers to offer UM/UIM at the same limits as your liability coverage, but you can decline it by signing a written waiver.
What are California's current minimum insurance limits? As of January 1, 2025, California requires 30/60/15 coverage: $30,000 in bodily injury liability per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 in property damage, under SB 1107.
What happens if the at-fault driver has no insurance, or not enough? If you carry UM/UIM coverage, you can file a claim with your own insurer for the difference between what the at-fault driver's policy pays, if anything, and your actual damages, up to your UM/UIM policy limits.
How much UM/UIM coverage should a motorcyclist carry? There's no single right number, but many attorneys recommend limits well above the state minimum, often $100,000/$300,000 or more, given how often motorcycle crashes result in catastrophic injury or death. I personally recommend carrying the highest limits you can get-certainly $250,000 or higher if available. The small difference in premium cost may really surprise you, but the benefits available, if you are injured through the fault of another, far outweigh the small bump in the premium.
Can I still take legal action if the crash is still under investigation? Yes. An open police investigation doesn't prevent you from preserving evidence, starting an insurance claim, or speaking with an attorney about your rights while that investigation continues.
Attorney Advertising. This post is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. The description of the crash above is based on preliminary public reporting; the cause remains under investigation, and no fault has been legally determined. Every case depends on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee similar outcomes in future matters. If you have questions about a specific accident, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
