Car Lodges Under Big Rig on the 405

Two people suffered minor injuries Friday on the northbound San Diego Freeway when a car became lodged under a tractor-trailer rig that struck another car and hit the center divider, the California Highway Patrol said.

Traffic was backed up for hours after 10:20 a.m. when a Honda Civic driven by Lizette Navarro, 21, of Arleta, made an unsafe lane change and hit the big rig at Sherman Way, said Officer Ron Cohan, a CHP spokesman.

The Honda hit the right side of the rig and became wedged under the trailer’s front end. The truck, driven by Miguel Angel Ramirez Lopez, 36, of Rialto, dragged the car several feet, struck another car and broke through the center divider, Cohan said.

Navarro and her passenger, Yvette D. Torres, 21, of Pacoima, were not injured and escaped through a passenger door, Cohan said.

Ramirez also was unhurt, although his truck hit a Mazda in the fast lane with the Honda still attached, Cohan said. The collision caused the Mazda to hit the divider and overturn, coming to a rest on its roof.

The Mazda driver, Maggie M. Arian, 42, of West Hills, and her son Steven, 18, a passenger in the car, suffered minor injuries. They were taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center in Van Nuys, where they were treated and released, said a hospital spokesman.