An off-road vehicle accident near the unincorporated area of Blythe has left two boys dead and two girls injured in the late morning of Tuesday, September 17th.
KTLA in Los Angeles reports that the crash occurred in the area near the 10 Freeway and Mesa Drive of Mesa Verde in Riverside County. A 13-year-old girl on a 2015 Polaris RZR made a left turn in such a way that it caused the off-road vehicle to roll on its side.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) said in a statement that the girl driving the vehicle along with another 9-year-old girl were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash. Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were riding on a back door panel without seatbelts. During the rollover, the boys were ejected from the off-road vehicle, and it rolled on top of them.
According to the press release from the CHP, both of the teen boys suffered fatal injuries. The two girls suffered moderate injuries in the crash. Investigators do not believe that drugs or alcohol played any role in the deadly accident.
The Riverside County Coroner’s Office has identified the victims as Javier Castillo, 13 and Elisio Castillo, 14. Both boys were from San Jacinto.
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By law, the state of California does not require a driver’s license to operate an off-road vehicle like the one in the fatal crash. California statutes do, however, prohibit parents from allowing the operation of such vehicles by anyone under the age of 14 if the operator of the off-road vehicle or OHV cannot reach and safely operate all of the vehicle’s controls.
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