A pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle just before 12:30 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of East Ramona Expressway and Evans Road in Perris, according to authorities. The driver was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition, and no arrests had been made as of Sunday.
The crash was reported by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which said responding deputies located the pedestrian at the scene and attempted life-saving measures before the victim was pronounced dead. The victim's identity has been withheld pending notification of next of kin, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information has been asked to contact Deputy Puente at 951-210-1000.
A Corridor With a Troubled Recent History
Saturday's fatality is the latest in a string of serious and deadly crashes along Ramona Expressway in recent months. Just weeks earlier, on August 15, an 8-year-old girl was killed and five others were injured in a two-vehicle crash at Ramona Expressway and Rider Street in Perris, a collision after which no arrests had been made, per CBS Los Angeles. Hoodline previously covered that crash in Riverside County's deadliest corridor.
Before that, on July 31, another pedestrian was struck and killed in an early morning collision on the Ramona Expressway at Lake Park Drive in nearby San Jacinto, an incident investigated by the San Jacinto Sheriff's Station, according to the Sierra Sun Times. The intersection of Ramona Expressway and Evans Road itself has its own dark history: a red-light crash there once saw a speeding SUV strike a car and kill a 55-year-old Moreno Valley woman, as detailed by Duque & Price. And in December 2024, deputies from the Perris Sheriff's Station investigated another fatal pedestrian collision along the corridor, this time at Ramona Expressway and North Perris Boulevard, according to Action Eye News LIVE.
Who Investigates Fatal Crashes in Perris
Municipal police services in the City of Perris are contracted out to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. The Ramona Expressway and Evans Road intersection has also seen other law enforcement activity in recent memory — a high-speed sheriff's department pursuit along westbound Ramona Expressway ended there on November 1, 2025, when three fleeing suspects abandoned their vehicle, according to onscene.tv.
A $184 Million Fix Already Underway
The pattern of crashes along this stretch has not gone unnoticed by regional planners. In June 2026, the Riverside County Transportation Commission broke ground on the $184 million Mid County Parkway Ramona Expressway Project, an overhaul of an 8.6-mile stretch between Rider Street and Warren Road specifically aimed at addressing the corridor's high collision rates. The project, funded in part by Measure A sales tax funds, will expand the roadway from two to four lanes, install a raised center median barrier to eliminate head-on collisions, and upgrade traffic signals at strategic intersections, according to the commission. Construction began in spring 2026.
Because Saturday's crash struck just before 12:30 a.m., it also falls into a broader statewide pattern: approximately 75 percent of all pedestrian traffic fatalities in California occur during dark or nighttime conditions, according to data from the California Office of Traffic Safety. Under California Vehicle Code Section 21954, pedestrians crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk must yield the right-of-way to vehicles, though drivers remain legally obligated to exercise due care for pedestrian safety, per the Shouse Law Group. It remains unclear whether the pedestrian killed Saturday was within a crosswalk at the time of the collision.
Investigators have not released further details on the driver's speed or sobriety, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to come forward as deputies continue to piece together what happened on one of Riverside County's most closely watched stretches of roadway.
