A pedestrian crossing Curtner Avenue outside a marked crosswalk was struck and killed by a Tesla Model X just after midnight on Saturday, making him San Jose's 35th traffic fatality and 18th pedestrian death of 2026. Officers responded to the area of Curtner and Stone avenues in South San Jose, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to NBC Bay Area, the driver of the 2016 Tesla was heading west on Curtner Avenue just past Stone Avenue when he struck the pedestrian, who was crossing outside any marked crosswalk. The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, the outlet reported. A separate advisory from the San Jose Police Department pinpointed the collision time at approximately 12:14 a.m. Saturday and confirmed the crash marked the city's 35th fatal traffic collision, 35th traffic death, and 18th pedestrian fatality of 2026.
The department's Traffic Investigations Unit is asking anyone with information about the crash to come forward. Detective Leslie can be reached at [email protected] or at 408-277-4654.
A Corridor With a History
This isn't the first fatal crash on Curtner Avenue this year. On March 29, a two-vehicle collision near the Highway 87 off-ramp killed a driver and led to felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter charges against a juvenile driver — a crash that stood as San Jose's 10th traffic death of 2026 at the time, per the same department's earlier release.
The corridor has drawn municipal attention well before this year's deaths.
Traffic Safety Measures
San Jose has identified high-injury corridors. Transportation officials have cited excessive speed as the leading factor in the city's traffic deaths.
Citywide, the numbers tell a mixed story. San José Spotlight's reporting shows annual traffic fatalities fell from a peak of 63 in 2022 to 49 in 2024 and 41 in 2025 — the lowest count since 2012 — before reaching 35 deaths by mid-September of this year. Saturday's death on Curtner Avenue adds to that recent upward swing.
What California Law Says About Crossing Outside a Crosswalk
Under California Vehicle Code Section 21954, pedestrians crossing outside a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection must yield the right-of-way to oncoming vehicles, though drivers still carry a legal duty to exercise due care for pedestrian safety, according to the Shouse Law Group. That dual obligation often makes liability determinations in these kinds of crashes fact-intensive. Separately, California law limits when pedestrians can be cited for crossing outside crosswalks, according to the same legal source.
The victim's identity has not been released and awaits confirmation from the Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner. This is the third fatal pedestrian or bicyclist crash Hoodline has reported, following a bicyclist's death on Tully Road and a pedestrian fatality on Branham Lane on August 31.
