A March 13 accident that claimed the life of a West Sacramento woman whose car plunged into the Sacramento River was the result of the vehicle leaving the roadway, California Highway Patrol investigators have ruled.

That’s according to an attorney representing the late Musarrat Parveen Chaudhary’s family. On Wednesday, the CHP released a collision report in which the cause of the Old River Road crash and the investigating officer’s recommendations both were redacted.

“It says she left the roadway, but it doesn’t say why. The whole question is, why did she leave the roadway?” said the attorney, Chris Wood, who received a complete version of the report.

The report makes reference to what appeared to be “homemade floor mats” found inside the vehicle, but doesn’t specify whether they were a factor in the accident.

Wood said the report’s conclusion also states that while data had been downloaded from the vehicle’s “black box,” it has yet to be analyzed. Under “recommendations,” there were none, he added.

“It’s really not very helpful — it’s not anything that we don’t already know,” Wood said.

The redactions were advised by CHP legal counsel, who opined that the information “doesn’t fall under the provisions of the Public Records Act,” said Officer Cindy Leal of  the CHP’s Woodland office, whose Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team conducted the three-month accident investigation.

Chaudhary’s family has filed a civil lawsuit against the Toyota Motor Corporation, maker of the 2009 Camry LE the 59-year-old mother of seven was driving that day, alleging its vehicles contain design defects “that cause sudden and uncontrolled acceleration to speeds of up to 100 miles per hour,” and that Toyota has either denied or concealed the problems.

“I think that the case still is very strong, and the (black box) analysis is going to confirm that,” Wood said.

Chaudhary was driving southbound on Old River Road, on her way home from her dishwashing job at Cache Creek Casino Resort, when she phoned her daughter at about 8:10 a.m. to report that her brakes were not working properly, the CHP reported at the accident scene.

“Come save me,” she implored to her daughter before the call was disconnected, Chaudhary’s son Nadeem Chaudhary told The Enterprise that day. He said his mother was used to traveling the rural roadway, though usually it was with her husband Muhammad, who happened to have the day off from work.

Chaudhary’s next call was to 911. By then, her car had crossed the northbound traffic lane and a grassy access road before descending into the murky river.

According to a 911 call transcript released with the CHP report, the dispatcher had trouble understanding Chaudhary, who repeatedly said “river” and “car” before being connected with a Punjabi translator.

“My car is about to sink, it is about to sink,” Chaudhary told the translator who came on the line. But she was unable to tell them what road she had been on, saying only she had been traveling “from Woodland to Sacramento.”

“I’m drowning. I’m drowning in water,” she said. “Is anybody coming to help me or not?”

Chaudhary then told the dispatcher she had unbuckled her seat belt, and she pleaded for help in getting out of the car, saying she was unable to break any of the windows.

“I’m going to die. The car is filled with water. The car is sinking,” Chaudhary said — her final words on the transcript.

Using cell phone coordinates, the CHP pinpointed Chaudhary’s location at about the same time, but her car was submerged by the time rescue personnel arrived on scene. Searchers pulled the black Toyota from the river about six hours later, with Chaudhary’s body lying in the back seat.

— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene

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