VENTURA : Motorist Injured When Car Hits Bus

A Ventura woman was in serious condition Tuesday after her car hit a SCAT bus, causing a fuel spill that closed two lanes of the Ventura Freeway, authorities said.

The car driven by Dana Garcia, 32, rear-ended a SCAT bus that had stalled in the slow lane at the Santa Clara River bridge, authorities said.

Garcia sustained head injuries in the crash and was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard for treatment. Hospital officials said she was in serious condition Tuesday evening.

There were only a few passengers on the bus and no one was injured, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Garcia’s car, which was traveling about 45 m.p.h. when it hit the bus, was demolished by the crash, CHP Officer Paul Thompson said.

“The bus had minor damage--it definitely won,” Thompson said. The accident backed up traffic for two miles on the southbound Ventura Freeway and slowed morning commuters for about an hour, Thompson said.

Caltrans workers had to spread sand on the freeway to soak up five gallons of diesel fuel that leaked from the bus. The fuel covered about 20 to 25 feet in one lane, a California Department of Transportation dispatcher said.