Riverside residents plead for more safety measures after crash kills 8-year-old
Residents are calling for more stop lights and signs after the latest crash on a busy Riverside street killed an 8-year-old boy.
"I don't want this to happen again. It's got to stop," said resident Jesse Marquez, who visited the young boy's growing memorial.
The crash happened around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday on Arlington Avenue when a 22-year-old driver veered onto the wrong side of the road, according to the Riverside Police Department. Investigators said he then struck a gray sedan carrying the four siblings. Police believe they may have been on their way to school. The violent collision mangled both cars and sent an engine block flying onto the road.
All of the siblings were sent to the hospital where the youngest, an 8-year-old boy, died. The boy's 25-year-old sister, who was driving at the time, remains in serious condition. The two other siblings, a 16-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, are in critical condition.
"At the top, the cars just fly down and that's how the accidents have been happening," said resident Isabel Cisneros.
On May 5, an out-of-control car jumped on the curb and took out a light pole in front of Isabel Cisneros' home. A month earlier, a truck slammed into her bedroom in the middle of the night, narrowly missing her child and husband. The deadly crash happened across the street from her house.
In addition to a four-way stop sign, she called on the city to add a stop light at the corner of Arlington and Stover Avenues.
"There needs to be a stop before the light," said Cisneros. "If not, the light defeats its purpose."
In a written statement, the City of Riverside said in part:
"The City Council approved a traffic signal for this intersection, which is expected to be completed and energized by October."
The Riverside Police Department said the 22-year-old driver is still in the hospital. Detectives are waiting for his toxicology results while the crash's investigation continues.
