One Killed, Two Injured in Long Beach Crash on Pacific Coast Highway

LOS ANGELES, CA – A man died and two women were hospitalized Saturday night after a two-vehicle crash in the Alamitos Heights neighborhood of Long Beach, according to the Long Beach Police Department.

The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. in the 5700 block of Pacific Coast Highway, near Bellflower Boulevard. Police said a preliminary investigation found that a vehicle traveling westbound on Pacific Coast Highway struck another vehicle as it exited a shopping center. Fire personnel took the male driver to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Paramedics transported the two women to a hospital as well. Their conditions had not been released as of Sunday.

Police have not identified any of the people involved or said which driver had the right of way, and the cause of the crash remained under investigation as of Sunday.

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PCH Dangers and History of Accidents

Long Beach recorded 53 fatal traffic collisions in 2025, the highest total the city has seen in more than a decade. The California Office of Traffic Safety has ranked Long Beach first among comparably sized California cities for nighttime crashes occurring between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., a window that includes Saturday’s collision. Citywide crash data also show that speed and impaired driving are recurring factors in nighttime collisions.

Pacific Coast Highway carries heavy commercial and commuter traffic through Long Beach, with multiple points where vehicles merge from shopping centers and side streets into fast-moving through lanes. That mix of high speeds and frequent entry points is a common contributor to broadside and merging collisions on arterial roads statewide, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

Liability Under California Law

California law allows the family of someone killed in a traffic collision to pursue two related but distinct claims. A wrongful death claim is authorized under Code of Civil Procedure sections 377.60 and 377.61. It allows a decedent’s spouse, children, or other eligible heirs to recover damages for the loss of financial support, companionship, and guidance the decedent would have provided. A separate survival action, authorized under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.30, allows the decedent’s estate to pursue damages he could have claimed had he survived. Those damages can include medical expenses and pain and suffering between the crash and his death.

Fault in a two-vehicle collision like Saturday’s typically turns on right-of-way rules and each driver’s duty to yield when entering a roadway from a private lot. A driver who failed to yield or was traveling too fast for conditions could bear responsibility for the resulting harm. California follows a pure comparative negligence standard. A court can assign a percentage of fault to more than one party and reduce any recovery accordingly, rather than barring a claim outright just because a plaintiff bore some responsibility.

The two women hospitalized in the crash may also have independent claims for their own medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering. Those claims would be separate from any wrongful death claim tied to the man who died.

Investigating the Long Beach Accident on PCH

Long Beach police have not released additional details, including the identities of those involved or whether either driver will face citations. Insurance companies typically begin evaluating fault within days of a crash, often before all the facts are known. That timeline can put surviving family members and injured parties at a disadvantage if they engage with adjusters without independent legal guidance.