An 8-year-old boy was killed in a head-on accident at Stover and Arlington Avenues in Riverside on Tuesday, May 17, 2023. According to a report from KABC, the boy was riding with his three siblings, including his 25-year-old sister, who was driving their Nissan car when they collided head-on with a 22-year-old man driving a Honda.
According to their initial investigation, the Riverside Police Department believes that the Nissan, with the boy and his siblings, was traveling east along Stover Avenue around 7:30 a.m. when the Honda crossed the center line while traveling west along Arlington Avenue and collided head-on with them.
Both vehicles’ occupants–the 8-year-old boy, his 25-year-old sister, his 16-year-old brother, and his 10-year-old sister and the 22-year-old driving the Honda–were transported to local hospitals with serious injuries. The 8-year-old boy was the only one that did not survive his injuries.
Investigators have yet to determine if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the accident, but residents who live in the area say that similar accidents are frequent along that stretch of road. Fresno personal injury firm Maison Law also provided information on this accident and how victims in similar types of accidents can pursue their legal options.
Riverside Car Accidents Involving Children
Anytime a car accident happens in Riverside, it’s an unfortunate turn of events. However, it’s often even more unfortunate when one of the victims is a child.
Data compiled in the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWIRTS) 2019 annual report found that 401 children between the ages of 0-14 were injured in car accidents statewide.
In Riverside, SWIRTS data further found that in 2022, there were 174 accidents causing serious injuries or fatalities.
In nearby Fullerton, there were 684 accidents in 2021, according to this Fullerton car accident study.
This data underscores how frequent car accidents are in Riverside and how vulnerable smaller children are to serious, even fatal, injuries in these accidents. Physically, they are smaller than older adults, and have still-developing bones with weaker muscles that leave them more susceptible to injury in a car accident.
Couple this with a general lack of awareness or understanding of the dangers of car accidents, and it’s easy to see why accidents like the one above so often end up with devastating consequences for children.
On top of physical injuries, the emotional and psychological impact that a car accident can have on a child can last well after they recover from their physical injuries.
