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A skateboarder suffered critical injuries when he was hit by a car in Temecula.

Pedestrian accident: A 26-year-old skateboarder was in critical condition Wednesday night after he was hit by a car in Temecula.

•    A skateboarder was crossing an intersection when he was kit by a vehicle.

•    The driver said she did not see him.

•    The skateboarder suffered major injuries and was hospitalized in critical condition.

•    Police said drugs and alcohol were not involved.

The major injury accident occurred shortly before 8:30 p.m., according to a report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

Officials from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said 26-year-old Temecula resident Joshua Schmittou was riding his skateboard across Winchester Road at Ynez Road when he was struck by a vehicle.

Sheriff’s Sgt. John Magnan told the Valley News that the driver of the vehicle, Temecula resident Sandra Orlaski, didn’t see the skateboarder.

Orlaski and a witness stayed at the scene with the victim until emergency personnel arrived, Magnan said.

Schmittou was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to the Press-Enterprise report.

Winchester Road was closed for about four hours while the Temecula Police Department’s Traffic Collision Reconstruction Team conducted their investigation.

“At this time, no alcohol, drugs or other impairment is suspected, and the investigation is continuing,” Magnan said.

Skateboard Fatality Statistics

There were 42 reported skateboard fatalities nationwide — 11 in California — in 2011, according to Skatepark.org research statistics. Of those 42 deaths, 30 involved motor vehicles.

“Some of the fatalities were hit-and-run incidents, many involved drunk drivers and/or texting drivers, one was even a State trooper vehicle,” the report stated.

The average age of the skateboarders who were killed in 2011 was 18. The majority were 15 years old or younger.

Temecula Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented pedestrian accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Hit-and-Run: A 20-year-old skateboarder is in critical condition after being hit by a car in San Marcos.

A 20-year-old skateboarder was hospitalized with critical injuries after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver Monday in San Marcos, about 40 miles north of San Diego.

•   A young skater was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene.

•   The skater suffered major head injuries and was hospitalized in critical condition.

•   The driver later called police and was arrested on unrelated charges. It was not clear whether he would face criminal charges for the hit-and-run.

The accident occurred at 5:51 p.m., according to a report in the North County Times.

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Stephanie Guerra said the skater, whose name was not released, was riding near the intersection of Alamitos Way and Oleander Avenue when he was struck by an eastbound vehicle.

The driver fled the scene in the vehicle.

People who live in the neighborhood ran out to the street and found the skater lying on the road. He was bleeding.

Guerra said the young man suffered a major head injury and was rushed to a hospital in critical condition. Authorities later said his condition remained critical but stable.

A few hours later the driver of the vehicle that struck the young man called the Sheriff’s Department and said he had been involved in the accident. Deputies who responded to the driver’s home found a vehicle with damage that matched some of the debris found in the road at the scene.

After questioning him, deputies arrested the man on charges that were not related to the accident. They seized his vehicle as evidence of the hit-and-run, but it was not clear if he would be subject to criminal charges in that case.

The accident is still being investigated, deputies said.

Skateboarding Accident Statistics

Skateboarding accidents are among the leading causes of sports-related head injuries in emergency rooms, according to an American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) study.

Researchers found that more than 23,000 head injuries resulted from skateboarding (and non-motorized scooter) accidents in 2009. More than 60 percent of those injuries — roughly 14,800 — involved children 14 years of age or younger.

Skateboarders for Public Skateparks (SPS), a non-profit advocacy organization, conducted a study in 2006 and found that nearly one skateboarder was killed every week in the United States. Of those deaths, only two occurred in skateparks. The remainder all occurred on roadways.

Approximately 65 percent of the fatalities tracked by SPS in 2006 were hit by vehicles. It’s difficult to track the exact number of skateboarders who are killed in accidents with motor vehicles because safety agencies consider skaters as pedestrians, and often do not distinguish them in overall statistics.

Texas had by far the greatest number of recorded skateboard fatalities involving motor vehicles, with twice as many such deaths as California, which ranked second.

California Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented pedestrian/skateboard accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Maryann Slettehaugh (inset) died after being hit by a skateboarder at this intersection in Santa Cruz.

Fatal pedestrian accident: An 83-year-old woman died Wednesday when she was hit by a skateboarder while she was trying to cross a street in Capitola Village, about 5 miles east of Santa Cruz.

•   An elderly woman was crossing a street when a teen skateboarder came down the steep hill at 20 mph and crashed into her.

•   The woman was knocked unconscious and hit the pavement hard.

•   She was airlifted to a hospital where she later died.

The fatal accident occurred at about 3:10 p.m., according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News.

Maryann Slettehaugh was walking from her home to the beach, as she did every day. She was crossing Cliff Drive in a crosswalk when a 17-year-old boy came barreling down the steep hill on a skateboard. He was traveling 15 to 20 mph, Capitola police Sgt. Andrew Dally said.

The teen — whose identity has not been released by authorities because he is a minor — saw the elderly woman and tried to jump off of his skateboard to avoid hitting her, but he crashed into her anyway.

Slettehaugh, who was about a step away from the sidewalk, was knocked unconscious and hit the street really hard, Dally said. She suffered severe injuries.

The teen immediately stopped and tried to help the woman. He stayed with her until emergency responders arrived.

“It was not a malicious type of act,” Dally told KSBW. “He seemed like a pretty clean-cut and honest kid. But we prohibit skateboarding in Capitola Village for this exact reason.”

Slettehaugh was airlifted to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, where she was treated at the trauma center, KSBW News reported.

She died just before midnight.

Her husband of 64 years, George Slettehaugh, said his wife was leery of skateboards and tried to avoid them because she had been hit by one 15 years ago.

Capitola police Detective Marquis Booth told CNN the teen skateboarder was cited for violating the civil code prohibiting skateboards in the area, but he had not been charged with anything else yet.

The accident is still under investigation.

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have been representing pedestrian accident victims and their families for 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.