Oxnard Driver Critically Injured in Amtrak Collision

OXNARD, CA – A 25-year-old Oxnard man was critically injured when an Amtrak train struck his Mercedes-Benz at Fifth Street and Rose Avenue on Sunday night, police said. The train and vehicle collision occurred after the car stopped on the tracks for reasons that remained under investigation. 

Oxnard police officers and emergency medical personnel were dispatched to the intersection at about 8:05 p.m. Sept. 6. They found the damaged 2024 Mercedes-Benz and the Amtrak train, then began treating the driver as traffic investigators were called to the scene. 

Paramedics took the Oxnard resident by ambulance to Ventura County Medical Center. Police described him as being in critical condition when they released the first detailed account of the collision. His name was withheld, and the department did not provide a later medical update. 

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Oxnard Driver Stopped on Railroad Tracks 

The department’s preliminary findings described both vehicles as traveling south before the impact. The Amtrak train was leaving Oxnard on the tracks that run along Fifth Street. The Mercedes was heading south on Rose Avenue as it approached the crossing at Fifth Street. 

For an undetermined reason, the Mercedes stopped on the tracks in the train’s path. The southbound train then struck the car. Police did not say how long the vehicle had been stopped before the impact or identify a reason it remained within the crossing. 

Traffic investigators took over the case after the emergency response began. Their initial statement did not announce a citation, describe any injury aboard the train, or assign responsibility for the collision. It also did not provide a passenger count or describe damage to the train. 

The first public account established the movements of the Mercedes and the train, the location of the stopped car, and the driver’s condition. Investigators continued working to determine why the vehicle stopped on the tracks before the train arrived. 

Accident Investigation Remains Open 

Police asked witnesses and anyone else with information about the crash to contact Corporal Joseph Clarke at 805-385-7750 or joseph.clarke@oxnardpd.org. The department also accepted information through its general line at 805-385-7600. 

The police account was published the morning after the crash and remained the department’s latest public statement on the case. It identified the driver only by his age and city of residence while officers continued the investigation at the Fifth Street crossing. 

No later update had been issued on the driver’s condition or the cause of the collision by Saturday morning. The circumstances that led the Mercedes to stop on the tracks remained unresolved in the department’s public record.