A 78-year-old Bakersfield man died within minutes of being struck by a car while crossing a marked crosswalk in the southwest part of the city last Sunday evening. The Kern County Coroner's Office has identified him as Ronny Carl Delouth, a Bakersfield resident.
Delouth was walking westbound in the marked crosswalk at California Avenue and Business Center Drive just after 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 1 when a southbound Toyota Prius struck him, according to KGET 17 News. Officials said the crash happened at 6:32 p.m., and Delouth was pronounced dead at the scene just 14 minutes later, at 6:46 p.m.
Officials reportedly contacted the driver of the Toyota at the scene, but the station's report does not say whether the driver was cited or faced any charges. The Bakersfield Police Department said it remains unknown whether impairment contributed to the crash. Investigators are asking anyone with information about the collision to call 661-327-7111.
A Grim Pattern on Bakersfield Streets
Delouth's death adds to a string of pedestrian fatalities that have drawn scrutiny in Kern County. Earlier reporting described 68-year-old Jimmy Dwayne Smith, who was in a motorized wheelchair when he entered a roadway and was struck by a Toyota whose driver fled the scene, per the same KGET account. Another case detailed by BakersfieldNow involved 67-year-old Pauline Terrazas, who was struck and killed while crossing Brundage Lane on Father's Day.
The Bakersfield Police Department has said it saw an increase in pedestrian-related collisions, including major-injury crashes and fatalities, that year, BakersfieldNow reported. That comes even as broader numbers had shown improvement: the department recorded 17 pedestrian deaths in 2023, down from 36 the year before, a 53% drop, and pedestrian deaths fell from 12 to eight during the first half of 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier.
Countywide Numbers Still Climbing
Zooming out to the county level, the picture looks less encouraging. Kern County had recorded 33 pedestrian deaths so far in 2025, compared with 57 for all of 2024 and 63 in 2023, according to a report carried by Yahoo News. The figures underscore how walking along Kern County roadways has remained dangerous even as city-level statistics showed signs of improvement.
City engineers have said they weigh traffic volumes, speeds, and how people use roads when deciding whether a location needs safety upgrades, BakersfieldNow reported July 17, 2026. Officials noted the city does not wait for a set number of crashes before looking into a location. One example of that work, the H Street Improvement Project, took close to two years to design and ultimately included lane reductions, curb extensions, new lighting and landscaping, a roundabout, and new pavement striping.
At California Avenue and Business Center Drive, where Delouth was killed, investigators are relying on the public to help fill in what happened in the moments before the Prius struck him.
