The County Coroner’s Office in San Rafael confirmed on Monday, October 5, that a woman had died in a collision with the SMART train last month. The deceased was identified by the Coroner’s Office as Rosina Szele, 82, of San Rafael.
According to the details shared by the authorities, the fatal incident occurred on the North San Pedro Road on September 17. Szele was riding a sedan vehicle at the time. For some reason, Szele drove to the railway tracks at the Los Ranchitos Road railway crossing and then stopped. She was also driving on the wrong side of the road at the time.
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As the SMART train approached, the driver honked several times and then used the emergency brakes to avoid a collision. The train was traveling at a speed of about 22 mph at the time. However, the train still collided with the vehicle in a forceful impact. Szele sustained critical injuries in the collision.
It took a while for the first responders and paramedics to reach the scene of the crash. Szele was then rushed to the Marin Health Medical Center. She remained under treatment at the hospital until September 22 which is when she succumbed to her injuries.
The Coroner’s Office has now confirmed that Szele died because of the blunt force injuries she had sustained in the crash. Preliminary investigations by the San Rafael Police Department show that Szele was at fault and her negligence contributed to the crash. The accident reports so far do not reveal precisely what caused Szele to drive up to the railway tracks and then stop there.
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