TEMECULA, California — Noah Austill, 14, of Temecula, was struck and killed Tuesday night by the driver of an sports utility vehicle as he rode his skateboard at the intersection of  Ynez Road and Rancho California Road, according to a Riverside County Sheriff Department press release.

According to the report, the teenager, an eight grader at Gardner Middle School, was crossing Ynez Road at night in a crosswalk. The young man was crossing the road in a section of the crosswalk that was poorly lit. He was struck by the SUV and the impact threw him 99 feet. The driver of the mid-sized SUV struck him about 9:55 p.m. Austill died at the scene of the crash a few minutes later. Police will conduct a full investigation into the circumstances that led to the skateboard accident. The 20-year-old driver of the SUV remained at the scene.

Skateboarding Accident Statistics

In the United States, there were 14,783 children aged 14 years and younger that were taken to emergency rooms with head injuries while engaging in skateboarding in 2009, according to the to an American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) report.

Also, skateboarding ranks fifth in the top 10 sports-related activities leading to head injuries for children ages 14 years old and younger. The top four sports leading to head injuries in these children were cycling (40,272 injuries), football (21,878 injuries), baseball and softball (18,246) and basketball (14,052 injuries).

Additionally, according to the 2011 USA Skateboarding Fatality Report conducted by Skaters for Public Skateparks, Inc. (SPS) there were 43 reported deaths of skateboarders in the United States in 2011 including 11 in California, four in Texas and three in Virginia. The study showed that only one skateboarder was killed at a skateboard park and the other 40 were in public streets including 30 involving vehicles.

Police investigate every car accident involving a death to determine the cause of a crash, said Attorney West Seegmiller, founder of the Seegmiller Law Firm. The investigation will seek to find out if any other drivers were involved, whether anyone was under the influence of anything, they were distracted or if there were any circumstances that may have led to the crash that were illegal or reckless.

“Families of children killed in skateboarding accidents not only have to cope with the loss of a loved one, but often they want to make sure something is done so that something like this never happens to another child again,” said Seegmiller. “This is a double tragedy for both the family of this young boy and the driver who hit him.”

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The Seegmiller Law Firm can be reached at 1-855-ASK–WEST.  For over 30 years, the firm has been a staunch advocate for victims’ rights and has fought for clients involved in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including premises liability, product liability, auto accidents, dog bites, nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, at-work injuries and more.  The firm has offices in Irvine, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada.