Four die in accident that closes 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley
Four people died Friday night in an accident that might have been caused by street racing on the 60 Freeway near Redlands Boulevard in Moreno Valley.
The single-car accident apparently happened when the driver lost control, causing the driver’s vehicle to hit the center median and flip to the other side of the highway.
The call came in at 7:29 p.m. according to the incident log of the California Highway Patrol, which responded to a report of an overturned white sedan that had landed between the first and second westbound lanes.
At the scene, responders found that the force of the crash had ejected two people from the vehicle. One person was in traffic lanes and the other on the roadside, according to the CHP log. Both died at the scene. Three people were trapped inside the car, according to the incident report from the Riverside County Fire Department.
Two of the people trapped in the car also were dead at the scene. One occupant was extricated alive and transported to a local hospital for treatment.
KCAL Channel 9 reported that CHP investigators believed that three cars were racing before one car lost control. All the occupants of the car that crashed were in their early 20s, KCAL reported.
Officers quickly shut down the westbound 60, which was expected to remain closed for hours. The eastbound side was entirely closed briefly, according to the CHP log. Then it partially reopened, with traffic backed up for miles on a holiday weekend.
Earlier this year, a Los Angeles Times analysis of coroner’s records, police reports and media accounts found that at least 179 people had died in suspected street races in Los Angeles County since 2000. There were 984 street-racing incidents in Los Angeles County last year — including spontaneous races and organized events, according to data tracked by the California Highway Patrol.
Police say street-racing incidents in the area are on the rise, driven in part by racers’ ability to promote meet-ups, fuel regional rivalries and adapt to police responses through Instagram accounts.
Twitter: @howardblume
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