Moorpark Driver Hurt Badly as Train Hits Car
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A Moorpark woman who stopped her car between two railroad crossing barriers suffered severe head injuries Friday when the car was struck by a freight train, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
The victim, Marjorie Handel, 34, was listed in critical condition in Simi Valley Adventist Hospital’s intensive-care unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Handel left the Simi Valley Freeway at College View Avenue, where she struck a reflector at the end of the off-ramp shortly before 5 a.m., said sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Freeman.
She then crossed Los Angeles Avenue, which crosses College View Avenue, and apparently stopped just inside the railroad crossing barriers that are on both sides of Los Angeles Avenue, Freeman said. The rear of Handel’s car remained on the tracks, Freeman said.
A Los Angeles-bound freight train traveling 32 m.p.h. struck the right rear of Handel’s car, Freeman said. The car spun 180 degrees and was pushed about 80 feet, he said.
Witnesses aboard the train told deputies that they saw the car from about 150 feet away but that the train was going too fast to stop.
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