Fresno pedestrian killed in Highway 41 crash, coroner identifies victim

Phonesavanh Luangpraseuth’s death on southbound Highway 41 has put a name and age to another fatal pedestrian crash in Fresno County, where major roads continue to claim people on foot in the dark. The Fresno County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as 64-year-old Phonesavanh Luangpraseuth of Fresno after the collision south of Jensen Avenue around 1 a.m. Wednesday.

California Highway Patrol investigators said Luangpraseuth walked onto the roadway and into traffic. An 83-year-old driver in a 2017 Hyundai Tucson was traveling south in the No. 1 lane when the pedestrian entered from the west shoulder and moved eastbound into the vehicle’s path. CHP said the driver could not brake or take evasive action in time, remained at the scene and cooperated fully. Drugs or alcohol were not considered factors for the driver, and the case remains under investigation by CHP Fresno Area.

The crash landed on a stretch of Highway 41 that has already seen fatal pedestrian collisions in Fresno. A pedestrian was killed on Highway 41 in 2022 near McKinley Avenue, and another man died in 2024 after being struck at the Highway 41 and 180 interchange in central Fresno. A bicyclist was killed near Highway 41 and Jensen Avenue in 2025, underscoring how often the freeway and its feeder roads turn deadly for vulnerable road users.

The danger fits a broader pattern city officials have already acknowledged. Fresno’s Vision Zero materials say 127 pedestrians were killed in crashes between 2018 and 2022, accounting for half of all traffic deaths in that period, and the city’s more recent Vision Zero plan says more than 280 pedestrians were killed or severely injured between 2019 and 2023. The city’s active transportation plan is meant to improve walking, biking and wheelchair access, but the latest death shows how much risk remains on fast-moving corridors near southwest Fresno.