A 39-year-old Mecca man has been identified as the pedestrian killed after being struck by a car on 70th Avenue near Cleveland Street Thursday evening, on a stretch of road that has claimed lives before. The Riverside County Coroner's Office identified him as Ramiro Gonzalez Jr., who was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Gonzalez was walking in a westerly direction on 70th Avenue when a white Honda Accord, driven by a male traveling on the same road, struck him. The crash was reported at approximately 7:26 p.m. on September 10, as reported by KESQ. CHP said alcohol was not a factor in the collision, and investigators are still working to determine which portion of the roadway Gonzalez was walking in at the moment of impact.
The collision remains under investigation, and the CHP Indio office is accepting additional information from anyone with knowledge of what happened. That office, which operates out of headquarters on Varner Road in Indio, investigates crashes on state routes and in unincorporated Eastern Coachella Valley corridors.
A Stretch of Road With a Troubled History
This is not the first time this exact stretch of 70th Avenue has turned deadly. A 19-year-old woman was struck and killed by a vehicle in the same area, along the 97700 block of 70th Avenue just east of Cleveland Street, back on November 12, 2020, according to KESQ's earlier reporting. KESQ's earlier reporting documented that collision.
Under California Vehicle Code Section 21954, pedestrians walking outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk must yield the right-of-way to oncoming vehicles, though drivers are still legally required to exercise due care for pedestrian safety, per Justia Law. Separately, the collision's legal implications are not addressed in the cited reporting.
Infrastructure Gaps in an Under-Resourced Community
Mecca sits within the Eastern Coachella Valley, a region that has been described as an Assembly Bill 617 environmental justice community. Reporting also discusses long-standing gaps in basic infrastructure, including paved sidewalks and street lighting, in communities like Mecca.
The area's demographics compound the risk. Data Commons provides demographic information about Mecca, which Hoodline describes as having roughly 8,200 residents; rural transportation barriers remain a concern. Riverside County has proposed the Hammond Road and 70th Avenue Bike Lanes Project, which would widen 70th Avenue and modify the bridge over the Coachella Valley Stormwater Channel just east of Cleveland Street to add five-foot-wide buffered bike lanes, though the timeline for that construction has not been finalized.
Hoodline previously reported on a critical injury on nearby Hammond Road in August, another incident that underscored the same infrastructure shortfalls and pending county transportation plans now surfacing again in Gonzalez's death.
Part of a Larger Statewide and National Pattern
Gonzalez's death reflects broader pedestrian-safety concerns in California and nationally.
For now, the CHP Indio office continues to investigate exactly what happened on 70th Avenue Thursday night, including where along the roadway Gonzalez was walking when the Honda Accord struck him. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact CHP Indio.
