Student Hit by Car as Palm Springs Braces for Final Onslaught

A young man was struck and injured by a car Saturday as authorities braced for the final onslaught of party-minded spring break vacationers who annually converge on this desert community.

The accident was the latest serious incident involving high school and college students who flock to the Southern California desert as part of the annual rite of spring. Last week, a teen-age girl died and three others were injured when a drag-racing car crossed the center line of a Rancho Mirage highway and crashed head-on with a small sports car.

In Saturday’s incident, the victim, described by police as in his late teens or early 20s, was hit by a car in the 400 block of East Palm Canyon Drive outside a district heavily dotted with hotels. Further information on the accident and the victim was unavailable.