People who live near the Rainbow intersection where a deadly crash occurred Tuesday afternoon say they're concerns about traffic safety at the intersection are going unheard.
According to the North County Fire District, a mother was driving with her two children when their Honda Passport collided with a semi-truck towing two rock hauling trailers around 4:45 p.m. at intersection of Rainbow Valley Boulevard and Old Highway 395.
One of the children, a 13-year-old boy riding in the front seat, was pronounced dead at the scene. The mother was taken to Palomar Hospital with major injuries and the other child, a 6-year-old girl, was flown to Rady Children's Hospital, NCFD said.
Police say both the Honda and the semi-truck simultaneously attempted to enter the intersection when they collided. The Honda was pushed to the right shoulder and struck an overhead light.
Both vehicles had front-end damage and were seen disabled on the side of the road.
The boy's family said he was set to start his freshman year at Fallbrook High School next month. His 8th grade teacher at Vallecitos Elementary, a K-8 campus in rainbow, said the boy “was loved by all the students in our class. He had a funny sense of humor and was an excellent student."
A GoFundMe page was created to help his family with funeral expenses.
Community groups in Rainbow have pushed for a stop light or 4-way stop to be installed at the intersection where the crash happened but haven't had any luck. They say cars get onto Old Highway 395 when there is traffic on Interstate 15 and speed down the road making it dangerous for cross traffic at the intersection.
Nearby residents told NBC 7 there's a crash at the intersection at least once a month.
Earlier this year, County Supervisor Jim Desmond asked the County Public Works Department to do a safety study to see if anything at the intersection needed to change.
A statement from Supervisor Desmond sent Wednesday read in part:
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"The County Department of Public Works staff was quick in following up on the intersection in question. The County’s Department of Public Works experts reviewed and determined that a stop sign was not warranted.
In light of the recent tragedy, we are asking County staff to take another look at the intersection. Supervisor Desmond has requested a meeting to review the issue with Department of Public Works staff as soon as they receive the CHP accident report and perform their analysis."
The crash sparked a small brush fire on a hillside along the highway that was quickly extinguished.
The incident remains under investigation.
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