---
title: "Street Racing Eyed in Fatal Seven-Car Crash Outside Los Angeles"
description: "Among the many reasons to save it for the track—one wrong move is all it takes."
date: "2017-09-22"
modified: "2017-09-22"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/14569/street-racing-eyed-in-fatal-seven-car-crash-outside-los-angeles"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Racing"
tags:
  - "California"
  - "Crash"
  - "police"
  - "Street Racing"
---

# Street Racing Eyed in Fatal Seven-Car Crash Outside Los Angeles

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/09/pileup.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

An innocent driver is dead after a man allegedly participating in an illegal [street race](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/13705/detroit-police-point-to-street-racing-in-fatal-go-kart-vs-motorcycle-crash>) this week in southern California triggered a violent multi-car collision that nearly destroyed seven cars and left several other drivers with minor injuries, [according to *CBS Los Angeles.*](<https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/09/20/1-innocent-driver-dead-7-cars-damaged-in-riverside-street-race/>)

California Highway Patrol officers told *CBS* that prior to the crash, 38-year-old Anthony Lopez was seen speeding and weaving in and out of traffic in his silver BMW as he appeared to be racing another driver. One witness said she saw the cars flying towards her in her rear view mirror and managed to pull off the road just in time to avoid being struck.

Unfortunately, Lopez soon rear-ended what appears to have once been a Nissan Versa at an estimated 80-90 mph, completely obliterating the small hatchback and killing its 62-year-old driver. The force of the impact pushed the Nissan into several other cars, triggering a chain reaction crash that ultimately wrapped up five more innocent drivers.

https://youtube.com/embed/iEJzBCz31dM

Police responded and arrested Lopez after a sobriety test revealed he was driving under the influence. [According to *ABC 7 News,*](<https://abc7.com/1-killed-in-suspected-dui-street-racing-crash-in-riverside/2437757/>) the driver he was allegedly racing claims he too was scared of Lopez' dangerous driving and was only speeding in an attempt to get away from him. It took crews hours to clear away all the cars involved, but we think it'd be better to simply leave them all in the road as a permanent memorial to both the deceased driver and the [monumental stupidity of street racing.](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/13421/watch-a-street-racing-infiniti-g37-push-a-bmw-underneath-a-semi-truck>)

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)