MORENO VALLEY: Four injured after car plows into trailer, overturns on I-215

MORENO VALLEY — Two people were hospitalized with major, life-threatening injuries after a speeding car plowed into the back of a truck pulling a car and motorcycle on a trailer and overturned multiple times, according to officials and witnesses. At least two other people sustained injuries in the early morning accident that happened Friday, Oct. 20, on the southbound I-215 Freeway between Cactus Avenue and Alessandro Boulevard in Moreno Valley.

California Highway Patrol officers, Cal Fire/Riverside County firefighters and other emergency first responders were dispatched to the scene of the accident about 2:26 a.m., after multiple motorists and other witnesses called 911 to report the two-vehicle traffic collision.

When police and fire officials arrived at the scene, they found two vehicles, described as a black coupe that had overturned “several times” and a silver Dodge Ram pickup truck that had been pulling an older, Porsche 914 and a motorcycle on a trailer.

The driver and front seat passenger from the coupe sustained major, traumatic injuries in the crash. Two rear seat passengers sustained minor injuries. Firefighter/paramedics immediately began to provide medical treatment to those injured from the vehicle.

The driver and a passenger from the truck were reportedly not injured in the wreck.

Because of the severity of the accident and debris that was left strewn across the freeway, CHP called for the temporary, complete closure of the southbound lanes of travel on the freeway. A short time later, officials issued a Sig-Alert for the freeway.

American Medical Response medics eventually transported the driver and front seat passenger from the Acura to an area hospital. Their injuries were described as “life-threatening, CHP Sgt. Norris said from the scene.

While firefighters treated those injured in the crash, CHP officials investigated the cause of the collision.

During their preliminary investigation, officers determined the black vehicle was traveling southbound at a high rate of speed when it plowed into the back of the trailer being pulled by the truck.

According to other motorists who witnessed the crash, when the car struck the rear of the trailer, it overturned multiple times.

The impact caused the trailer to break into pieces and the truck with the trailer lost control and went off the freeway.

The truck and half of the trailer came to rest facing the wrong direction on the right shoulder of the freeway. The car ended up in the middle of the southbound lanes of travel.

Alcohol and/or drug intoxication have not been ruled out as contributing factors in the collision and CHP’s investigation into the accident is active and ongoing.

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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.