VENTURA : Police Say Man Killed in Crash Was at Fault

Investigators on Monday said preliminary tests show that an 83-year-old Ventura man who died in a traffic accident while leaving his wife’s grave at a cemetery was at fault when he pulled out to make a left-hand turn in front of oncoming traffic.

“Left-hand turns are the No. 1 cause of accidents in intersections,” said Ventura Police Cpl. John Turner, who performed some skid tests Monday in front of the Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura, where Howard Schaaf died Friday.

Turner said that, according to witnesses, Schaaf inched out into the intersection from the cemetery and paused, accelerated and paused again shortly before he was struck by a truck driven by Hakeem Hasan, an employee of Armored Transport of California Inc.

“He was probably frightened and confused,” Turner said. There were no visibility problems in the area of the accident, he said.

Preliminary tests and witness accounts indicate Hasan was not speeding at the time and honked his horn and swerved, trying to avoid the collision with Schaaf, Turner said. An off-duty Oxnard police officer witnessed the accident, he said.

Jay Hall, manager of the armored transport company, said their trucks are maintained on a regular basis and Hasan had a clean driving record.

Two women who witnessed the accident told police that Schaaf had faithfully visited his wife’s grave every week since her death two years ago.

On Monday, someone had attached some pink flowers and a red paper cross with the words “We’ll miss you, Howard” on the chain-link fence that his car crashed into after it was hit by the armored truck.