<div id="subtitle">11-year-old driver runs stop sign in central California, killing him, mother and sister</div><div><p>Investigators were mystified Wednesday as to why an 11-year-old boy was behind the wheel when the car ran a stop sign and crashed into another vehicle, killing him, his mother and younger sister.</p><p>California Highway Patrol Officer Stefanie Buck said investigators have not yet been able to interview the car's lone survivor to determine why sixth-grader Jose Manuel Silva Covarrubias was driving.</p><p>"For whatever reason the 11-year-old didn't stop at the stop sign, and drove the Honda into the path of the Ford," Buck said. "It's a tragedy any way you look at it."</p><p>His sister, Elizabeth Silva Covarrubias, 6, and their mother, Maria Covarrubias, 30, both of Woodville, were also killed in the accident. Neither the mother nor daughter was wearing a seatbelt, and both were ejected from the back seat.</p><p>A family friend, Froylon Gonzalez, was sent to a Fresno hospital with life-threatening injuries. Gonzalez, 34, of Woodville, was wearing his seat belt in the passenger seat when the crash happened at a rural intersection.</p><p>Felipe Zamora Gonzalez, the man's brother, said the family was returning from Jose's soccer team practice, and added that he had never seen Jose drive before.</p><p>Investigators said the boy was driving a 1993 Honda when he ran a stop sign and was hit broadside. The driver of that vehicle, Charles Seguin, 44, of Porterville, sustained minor injuries.</p><p>It does not appear drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash, nor did the winter fog typical of the area obscure the view, Buck said.</p><p>The accident happened at a rural intersection outside Porterville, which is about 70 miles southeast of Fresno.</p><p>Dondreia Bradley, the superintendent of Woodville Union School District said she was "stunned" to hear that Jose had been behind the wheel.</p><p>He came from "a wonderful family" with a supportive mother, she said.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=66856324&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

Copyright 2010  <a href="http://www.ap.org">AP News</a></div></div>