Woman killed in golf cart

Nearly every day, Claudia Miller rode her battered green golf cart into town from her home west of Robbins, stopping at the post office and at the Robbins Mercantile for some diet soda.

Monday, for reasons the California Highway Patrol could only speculate about, the 47-year-old Miller drove the cart in front of a northbound truck on Highway 113 at about 11:40 a.m. She was killed instantly.

A small dog riding with her jumped free and ran north. It apparently was picked up by someone who knew Miller, said Yuba-Sutter CHP spokesman Jeff Larson. The truck driver, 23-year-old Ruben Ramirez Jr. of Winters, was not cited. A witness driving behind Ramirez said he was traveling at the 55 mph limit. At that speed, he could not have stopped in time, said Larson.

A grassy mound at the southwest corner of Highway 113 and Del Monte Avenue may have blocked Miller's view of the northbound truck.

"She might have stopped and didn't see it or simply didn't stop," Larson said.

Miller worked as a caretaker at the Matteoli Brothers farm west of town, said Robbins Fire Chief Sam Martin.

The farm's owners were not available for comment.

Sutter County Sheriff's Department Deputy John DeVries, a longtime acquaintance of Miller's, said she lived alone and had no close relatives. She came into town nearly every day on the golf cart, he said.

People who live and work along Del Monte Avenue, including Robbins Mercantile owner Ali Shafqat, may not have know her full name but were accustomed to seeing Miller drive by on the electric cart. She always stopped at the store and invariably bought diet soda, Shafqat said.

"I called her Mom out of respect," said Shafqat, who told how she helped care for a blind man until he died recently. At the time of her death, Miller was helping care for another disabled man who lives in a trailer park in town, he said.

The fire chief estimated Miller had lived in the area for about 10 years. The Sheriff's Department was still looking Monday afternoon for relatives to notify, said department spokeswoman Brenda Baker.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.