HEMET, Calif. — An 18-year-old man died Sunday after losing control of his car during a rainstorm and crashing on Highway 74 in Riverside County, the California Highway Patrol confirmed.
The fatal crash occurred shortly after 6 a.m. on the westbound lanes of Highway 74, just west of Four Seasons Boulevard in the Green Acres community near Hemet. The victim was identified as Hector Gonzalez, a resident of Winchester.
According to a CHP news release, Gonzalez was driving a 2004 Lexus at a high rate of speed through rain showers when he lost control and failed to navigate a curve in the roadway. The vehicle overturned, struck a raised curb on the north edge of the highway, and then rolled off the road, colliding with a tree.
“The force of the impact caused the vehicle to split in half.”
— California Highway Patrol
Officers noted that Gonzalez was not believed to have been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. He was transported to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he was pronounced dead approximately one hour after arrival.
CHP said autopsy results are still pending, and investigators are waiting to determine whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the incident.
