Eleven-year-old Driver Causes Fatal Accident, Stirs Questions

January 13, 2010

Tulare County – An 11-year-old boy who was driving the car with his mother, sister, and a housemate ran a red light which resulted to three fatalities Tuesday night near Woodville, the California Highway Patrol said.

Jose Silva, a sixth-grader, died with his mother and 6-year-old sister Elizabeth after a southbound Ford vehicle driven by 44-year-old Charles Seguin broadsided their eastbound 1993 Honda that was going along Avenue 168 and failed to stop at a red light.

The 30-year-old Maria and her daughter who reportedly were not wearing their seatbelts at the time of the accident were ejected from their vehicle onto a walnut grove.

The other passenger who is a family friend identified as Froylon Gonzalez, 34, has remained in serious condition after being airlifted to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.

The accident stirred questions as to why Maria Silva would let her son drive on their way home from his soccer practice.

Reports indicate that Gonzales and his brother were Maria’s friends and were living with her family east of Woodville. Gonzales’ brother, Felipe, said he had not seen Jose drive a vehicle before.

The superintendent of Woodville Union School District said she is surprised by the accident as Jose, his second-grader sister, and Jesse Silva in the eighth-grade was from a good family.

Authorities ruled out alcohol and drugs as factors in the accident but they continue to conduct their investigation.