After 2 Fatal Crashes, Injuries, Murrieta's Whitewood Rd. Under Watch

MURRIETA, CA — Following a series of fatal and serious injury crashes along Whitewood Road in Murrieta, police announced enforcement has been increased along the corridor.

"For the entire month of June 2023, the Murrieta Police Department’s Traffic Bureau will be increasing enforcement and education efforts along the Whitewood Road Corridor, a span of roadway that starts at Murrieta Hot Springs Road and moves north to Mapleton Street (south of Scott Road)," the agency announced Friday.

The department said its goal is to address the primary factors of crashes: speeding, traffic signal and sign violations, unsafe turning movements and distracted driving.

"This concentrated endeavor will enhance public safety, reduce traffic collisions that could result in injury and property damage and educate those traveling our city roadways," according to Murrieta police.

The announcement came after a series of Whitewood crashes in recent weeks.

A May 21 solo-vehicle wreck left one person with serious injuries. The crash occurred shortly after 7:30 p.m. at Whitewood's intersection with Carolwood Court, about a quarter mile south of Alta Murrieta Drive.

A gray Ford F-150 truck smashed into a tree and light pole, severing both objects.

Firefighters used the jaws of life to extract a woman from the wreckage; she was sent to a local hospital with major injuries.

The man driving the pickup was treated at the crash scene but declined further medical treatment, according to a reporter at the scene.

No other injuries were reported.

Firefighters used a chainsaw to cut the downed tree and clear the roadway. A Southern California Edison crew de-activated the exposed wires from the downed pole.

At approximately 8 p.m. April 23, a 73-year-old cyclist died after he smashed into the back of a parked SUV on Whitewood Road, north of Poinsettia Street.

Josef Binter of Murrieta was riding north on Whitewood when up ahead a 37-year-old woman in an SUV had pulled over, just north of the Poinsettia Street intersection, and parked on the roadside to tend to her child in the backseat, according to the Murrieta Police Department.

Binter apparently did not see the stopped SUV and smashed into the vehicle's rear. Read more here.

In a separate May 18 incident, a motorcyclist was killed at Whitewood Road and Hellebore Street.
Mason Young, 23, of Menifee was pronounced dead at the scene of the 6:31 p.m. crash.

A 17-year-old girl behind the wheel of a sedan was making a left turn onto northbound Whitewood from Hellebore, according to Murrieta police. She failed to see Young riding southbound on Whitewood and he broadsided her car. Read more here.

All three crashes were in residential areas and remain under investigation.