It’s one of those Hollywood stories that just refuses to go away. You’ve probably seen the memes or the snarky comments on Twitter—now X—whenever her name comes up. People love to bring up the time Caitlyn Jenner hit someone with a car. But like most things that involve the Kardashian-Jenner orbit, the reality is a lot messier than a ten-second soundbite. It wasn't just a simple "fender bender," and it wasn't exactly what the internet trolls make it out to be either.
February 7, 2015. Malibu. The Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). It’s a beautiful stretch of road, but anyone who lives in LA knows it can be a total nightmare when traffic bunches up.
Caitlyn—who was still going by Bruce at the time and hadn't yet done the big Vanity Fair reveal—was driving a black Cadillac Escalade. She was towing an off-road vehicle on a trailer. That’s a lot of weight. A lot of momentum. Up ahead, traffic started to choke. A Toyota Prius, driven by a woman named Jessica Steindorff, stopped or slowed down significantly. Behind that Prius was a white Lexus driven by 69-year-old Kim Howe.
The Chain Reaction on PCH
The physics of the crash are what eventually determined the legal outcome. Basically, Jenner’s Escalade slammed into the back of Kim Howe’s Lexus. The force was enough to shove that Lexus across the center line and directly into the path of an oncoming Hummer.
Kim Howe died at the scene.
It was horrific. Photos from the aftermath showed Jenner standing by the wreckage, looking dazed in a baseball cap and sunglasses. Because it was the PCH and because it involved a Jenner, the paparazzi were everywhere. Some early reports even questioned if the photographers had caused the whole thing by chasing her, but the investigation eventually pointed elsewhere.
One of the biggest questions people always ask is: Did Caitlyn Jenner hit someone with a car while she was texting? The short answer is no. Investigators pulled her phone records and checked the data. She wasn’t on the phone. She wasn’t drunk. She wasn't high. She stayed at the scene and cooperated with the cops. She even passed a field sobriety test right there on the shoulder of the road.
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Why No Manslaughter Charges?
This is where the public usually gets frustrated. A woman died, and Jenner walked away without a criminal record. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department actually recommended a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge. They argued that Jenner was driving at an "unsafe speed" for the road conditions. Even if she was technically under the speed limit, the road was slick, and she was hauling that heavy trailer.
However, the District Attorney’s office ultimately passed. They looked at the evidence and decided they couldn't prove "ordinary negligence" beyond a reasonable doubt.
Their reasoning? Jenner had stepped on the brakes about 1.5 to 1.9 seconds before the impact. She wasn't speeding in the traditional sense; she was just unlucky in a split-second traffic jam. In the eyes of the law, it was a "tragic accident" rather than a criminal act.
The Civil Side of Things
Just because the cops didn't lock her up doesn't mean she didn't pay. Civil court is a whole different ballgame.
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- The Steindorff Settlement: Jessica Steindorff, the driver of the Prius, filed a lawsuit pretty quickly. That was settled by December 2015 for an undisclosed amount.
- The Wolf-Millesi Family: The people in the Hummer—the ones who hit Kim Howe's car after Jenner pushed it into their lane—sued for physical and emotional injuries. There was a baby in that car who was briefly non-responsive. That's terrifying stuff. In 2018, Jenner reportedly paid out an $800,000 settlement to that family.
- The Wrongful Death Suit: Kim Howe’s stepchildren filed a suit as well. This was controversial because Jenner's legal team argued the stepchildren didn't have a close enough relationship with Howe to claim financial dependence. They eventually settled and dismissed the case in early 2016.
The Public Perception Problem
Honestly, the reason this stays in the news cycle isn't just about the law. It’s about the timing. The crash happened right as Caitlyn was becoming a massive symbol for the transgender community. To her supporters, the focus on the crash felt like a smear campaign. To her critics, her transition felt like a "distraction" from the tragedy (which is a pretty gross thing to suggest, but that was the vibe on the tabloids back then).
There's also the South Park effect. They did a whole running gag with her behind the wheel, yelling "Buckle up, buckaroo!" before running people over. That one caricature did more to cement the "Jenner is a dangerous driver" narrative than any police report ever could.
What We Can Learn From It
If you’re ever driving on the PCH—or any highway, really—take this as a cautionary tale about "following distance." Jenner was going slightly under the speed limit, but because she had a trailer, her stopping distance was compromised.
- Weight Matters: If you’re towing something, you need double the space you think you need.
- Road Conditions: Even a light mist in SoCal makes the roads greasy.
- Liability: You can be totally sober and under the speed limit and still be held liable for a death if you're the one who initiates the "rear-end" chain.
At the end of the day, a woman lost her life in a way that was probably preventable if everyone had been an extra car-length apart. Caitlyn Jenner has expressed her "deepest sympathies" multiple times, calling it a devastating tragedy. Whether you believe she got "celebrity justice" or was just a victim of a bad traffic day, the legal books are closed on this one.
If you’re interested in how California law handles these specific types of multi-car pileups, you should look into the state's "comparative negligence" rules. It explains why settlements happen even when no one goes to jail. You might also want to check out the specific safety requirements for towing trailers in California, as that was the technical detail that almost cost Jenner her freedom.