[chris]

Mussarat Chaudhary, 59, of West Sacramento, died March 13, 2013, after her 2009 Toyota Camry left Old River Road and dropped into the Sacramento River as she drove home from an overnight dishwashing shift at Cache Creek Casino Resort, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Chaudhary first called her son, telling him her brakes had failed and that the car was going into the river. He later recalled her saying, "Come save me, come save me." She then reached a 911 dispatcher, who struggled to understand her as she repeated "car, car, river, car."

Family members said she normally spoke English well but may have reverted to Punjabi under the strain of the moment. A Punjabi interpreter was brought onto the line, and Chaudhary told the interpreter her car was sinking and that she was drowning.

She said she had unbuckled her seat belt but could not break any of the car's windows to escape. She was unable to tell responders which road she had been on.

The CHP used coordinates from her cell phone to pinpoint her location, but by the time rescue crews reached the river, the Camry had already gone under. Searchers found the submerged car about a half mile downstream shortly before noon that day, and Chaudhary's body was recovered from the back seat.

The CHP's collision report did not state a cause. The section describing the investigating officer's findings and recommendations was redacted, according to the Davis Enterprise, which obtained a copy of the report.

The following month, Chaudhary's family sued Toyota Motor Corp. in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging the Camry accelerated on its own to speeds as high as 100 mph and that she had been unable to bring it under control. Attorney Chris Wood, who represented the family, said the claim matched hundreds of other unintended acceleration cases Toyota had settled without acknowledging a design defect.