Author name: C-CAR

OXNARD — A truck driver mistakenly turned onto the tracks of a commuter rail line and went about 80 feet before getting stuck, federal accident investigators wrote Thursday in their initial findings about a deadly train collision last month outside Los Angeles.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report reiterates much of what investigators discussed in the days after the train-on-truck crash in Oxnard, about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

• PHOTOS: Metrolink train strikes truck in Oxnard

Officials said Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez of Yuma, Arizona, meant to turn right on a road after the railroad crossing but instead turned prematurely in the pre-dawn darkness. He abandoned his Ford F450 with its hazard lights flashing and headlights on as the Metrolink train approached.

A student engineer blasted the horn and hit the emergency brakes about a quarter-mile before the collision. About eight seconds later, the train smashed into the truck and a trailer it was towing.

The train’s principal engineer died a week after the Feb. 24 crash that also injured 31 passengers and the two other crew members.

Ventura County authorities arrested Sanchez-Ramirez and later released him, saying they would decide later in the investigation whether to file charges. On Thursday, the office said it was still weighing possible charges.

“We won’t make a decision until we’re confident the investigation is concluded and we have all the facts in front of us,” said Mike Frawley, chief deputy district attorney for Ventura County.

The safety board has said its final conclusions won’t be ready for months.

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the Furniture Row Racing Chevorlet, shares his thoughts through the NASCAR weekend at Auto Club Speedway

Our single-car Furniture Row Racing team comes to Southern California on a high note. We have posted four straight top-eight finishes and are ranked third in the Sprint Cup driver point standings.

No question, we’re having plenty of fun. But we also understand it’s about the present and the future, not the past. You might see a timid fist pump from us, but no celebratory high-fives. Those high-fives will be showcased only when we get to Victory Lane. In this sport you need to be humble — very humble in fact — because auto racing can eat you up as quick as you can say top 10.

I get asked frequently what has made the difference for the turnaround from last year’s below average season, which was my first driving the Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet.

Well, for starters the team is fundamentally stronger, thanks to our owner Barney Visser, general manager Joe Garone and crew chief Cole Pearn. Cole has done a great job and had a well-calculated plan going into the new season. He is a big part of why we are running well. He went out and hired new people and beefed up our engineering staff. I believe in him and very happy he is with us.

Cole is a smart person with a great future. He has the unique quality of rarely being satisfied. After we were runner-up in Las Vegas, he said, “Second sucks!” Last week after we made a comeback to finish seventh in Phoenix he said the team “underachieved.” That’s the kind of guy I want running the ship.

Looking back, 2014 was a year of adversity. We struggled on the track, and from a personal standpoint, it got even worse when my girlfriend (Sherry Pollex) was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. When you get a glimpse of something that could possibly change your life like that in a bad way, it makes you look at things differently. Suddenly those bad days at the racetrack weren’t so bad.

There were days when it was just really hard to even thing about racing because it was so miserable. But at the end of the day, the guys never gave up on me and I never gave up on them. We fought through the adversity and right now we’re seeing a bright and shining light at the end of the tunnel.

We’re going into this weekend’s Auto Club 400 with the same amount of confidence and enthusiasm as we have since we unloaded for the season opener in Daytona. I am definitely looking forward to Fontana. I feel it’s a place we should be strong. We did the Goodyear tire test there last fall and really liked what we saw with the new package. We ran 2015 rules and learned a lot that has helped us throughout this season. I had a good car at Atlanta and Las Vegas and that’s an indication that we should be good on the 1.5, 2-mile tracks.

Auto Club Speedway is a really fun racetrack. It presents plenty of challenges and downforce definitely comes into play because of the high speed corners. For how fast we’re going there’s not much banking, and then of course, the track is getting pretty old. The seams between each lane are not only wide but also slippery. It’s a really, really bumpy track. We saw last year a bunch of left-side tire failures because of the track being so rough. There’s definitely a lot to deal with and the fans can expect another exciting race at the two-mile oval.

FONTANA >> Authorities released on Thursday the name of the woman killed in a chain reaction seven car pile-up on the eastbound 10 Freeway a day earlier.

Ivette Celia Delgado Arauz, 32 of Rancho Cucamonga, was pronounced dead after a tow truck traveling at an unsafe speed rear-ended her Honda Fit, a sub-compact car, about 8:30 a.m., California Highway Patrol officials said in a news release.

The tow truck, owned and operated by Rodrigo Marin Mota, was unable to stop as he approached the Sierra Avenue offramp where traffic ahead of him was at a standstill, according to the CHP.

“Ms. Arauz was still wearing her seatbelt, and the airbags did deploy,” Officer Jesus Garcia said in a phone interview Thursday. “The coroner’s report shows she died from blunt force trauma.”

CHP officials said Mota struck Arauz’s vehicle. Her car struck the one directly in front of her causing the next four cars ahead to lunge forward into each other.

Two other people involved in the crash were taken to the hospital as a result of the crash. Dale Oby Ray Anderson, of Ontario, was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center, and Petronillo Delarosa Diaz, of Alta Loma, was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. Both victims complained of pain but had non life-threatening injuries, officials said.

Most lanes of traffic were shut down for nearly four hours as officers investigated the crash.

Garcia said the investigation is ongoing and is unsure if investigators will pursue criminal charges.

DETROIT >> Honda is adding nearly 105,000 vehicles to its growing U.S. recall of driver’s side air bag inflators that can explode with too much force.

The added vehicles include nearly 89,000 Pilot SUVs from the 2008 model year, as well as about 11,000 Civics from 2004 and another 5,000 Accords from the 2001 model year.

Honda says it’s the first recall of 2008 Pilots for potential problems with driver’s air bags made by Takata Corp. of Japan. The inflators can blow apart a metal canister and spew shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least six people have died worldwide due to the problem.

Dealers will replace the driver air bag inflators for free. With the added vehicles, Honda has now recalled 5.5 million Honda and Acura cars and SUVs nationwide from the 2001 to 2011 model years because of the air bag problems.

So far, 10 different automakers have recalled over 17 million cars and trucks in the U.S. and 22 million worldwide because of the air bag problem. There could be as many as 30 million vehicles with Takata air bags across the U.S.

Honda says in documents posted Thursday by U.S. safety regulators that it found the additional vehicles by checking Takata inflator part numbers against Honda vehicle identification numbers in its factory records. Some 2001 Accords and 2004 Civics already were included in a recall from last year.

The expansion “reflects all possible vehicles that could potentially experience the problem,” Honda said in documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In a statement, Honda said it has not received any claims of inflator ruptures in any of the 2008 Pilot models. The company said it will send letters to owners of vehicles in the expanded recall “over time” as replacement parts become available.

The recalls are nationwide for driver’s side air bags, but passenger inflators are being recalled only in high-humidity areas including Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Takata uses ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion that quickly inflates its air bags. But government investigators say the chemical can burn faster than designed if exposed to prolonged airborne moisture. That can cause it to blow apart a metal canister meant to contain the explosion. Automakers, Takata and the government all want to find out just how much humidity and time it takes to cause the problem, both of which are unknown.

Takata, NHTSA and the auto industry are investigating to figure out just how much humidity over how much time can cause the problem to happen.

The 10 automakers, fed up with slow progress by Takata in finding the cause, hired a Virginia rocket science company to investigate the matter. Orbital ATK, which makes rocket propulsion systems, small arms ammunition and other products, has the ability to quickly simulate the impact of humidity on chemicals over long periods of time.

NHTSA began fining Takata $14,000 per day on Feb. 20 for allegedly failing to fully cooperate in the government’s investigation. The fines have grown to $392,000 as of Thursday. The Justice Department also is investigating Takata for possible criminal prosecution. The company has known about the air bag problems since at least 2004.

At least 70 lawsuits have been filed over the air bag malfunctions in courts across the nation, according to NHTSA.

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST >> A coroner’s official on Wednesday identified the motorcyclist killed in a head-on collision in the Angeles National Forest over the weekend.

Craig Harvey, chief of investigations and operations for the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, said Matthew Buckley, 35, of Moreno Valley died of multiple blunt traumatic injuries. He said the coroner ruled the death an accident.

The fatal crash happened around 2:30 p.m. Sunday on Shin Road, just east of Mt. Baldy Road.

California Highway Patrol Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said a motorcyclist was traveling westbound at a high rate of speed around a blind curve. Jimenez said the motorcyclist’s speed prevented him from staying in the lane. The motorcycle entered the eastbound lane directly in front of a Toyota 4Runner.

After the head-on crash, Jimenez said the motorcyclist was ejected. He died at the scene.

Jimenez said the rider was wearing a helmet.

The SUV’s driver, a 25-year-old Corona man, and the 23-year-old Ontario woman riding in the vehicle weren’t injured, Jimenez said.

SAN DIMAS — A 62-year-old man was stabbed several times during an argument with another man Wednesday.

The attack occurred around 6:50 a.m. at a bus stop in the 700 block of West Bonita Avenue.

Detective James Steinert of the sheriff’s San Dimas station said another man approached the 62-year-old transient.

“At some point, an argument ensued,” he said. He didn’t know what started the dispute.

The suspect stabbed the victim multiple times in the upper torso. He fled the scene.

Steinert said a passerby saw something suspicious and called the station. Deputies who responded to the call found the victim at the bus stop, he said.

A helicopter took the injured man to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center where he is in stable condition, according to Sgt. Luis Serrano.

The suspect was described as a Latino in his 20s, between 180 and 200 pounds and wearing dark-colored clothing.

Investigators are looking for witnesses. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the sheriff’s San Dimas station at 909-450-2700.