Posted on 05/23/2007 12:01:09 PM PDT by grundle
CHP: State Senator Was Driving Erratically Before Accident
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- State Sen. Carole Migden bounced her state-issued SUV off the concrete median on Interstate 80 and nearly ran other motorists off the freeway before slamming into the back of another vehicle last week, the California Highway Patrol and witnesses said Tuesday.
More than half a dozen motorists made emergency calls about Migden's erratic driving before the Friday accident, the CHP said. The rear-end collision in Fairfield, midway between San Francisco and Sacramento, injured a woman and her 3-year-old daughter, who were sent to the emergency room.
In a statement released by her office last week, the San Francisco Democrat said the accident happened after she took her eyes off the road while reaching for a ringing cell phone.
But about a half dozen motorists had called 911 before the crash as Migden traveled more than 30 miles on Interstate 80, heading east from the San Francisco Bay area.
"We have drivers calling from apparently down in Berkeley all the way up to where she crashed," CHP Officer Marvin Williford said Tuesday. "Her driving was just erratic.
"Unfortunately, she crossed three different CHP districts, so by the time we got into position in one area, she was in a different jurisdiction."
Two of the witnesses who called 911 said Migden glanced off the concrete barrier dividing traffic on I-80, several miles before her accident, the CHP said.
"Based on her (Migden's) statement and the damage to her car, we know that she hit something. We're trying to determine where she hit it," Williford said.
In her statement to police, Migden said "she did feel she brushed up against something," Williford said, although there is no mention of that in the public statement released Friday by the senator's office.
Migden's spokeswoman, Tracy Fairchild, did not immediately return telephone calls and e-mails Tuesday seeking reaction.
Williford said investigators were reviewing the 911 tapes of the motorists' calls, which were treated like hundreds of others the CHP receives each day reporting erratic driving.
Migden was headed to a meeting in Marin County. Her office has said it was state business but has not released details.
She missed her exit and decided to get off the interstate at the Highway 12 exit in Fairfield, according to her office and the CHP. That's when Migden said she reached for her ringing cell phone.
Her state-issued 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid sport utility vehicle then rear-ended a Honda sedan that was slowing to stop at a traffic light.
"I did not see it coming. I heard no screeching brakes," the Honda's driver, Ellen Butawan of Vallejo, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
She said the impact smashed in the Honda's trunk about 3 feet.
"The tow-truck guy told me that I was lucky no one was seriously injured," said Butawan, 31. "I went to the ER with a head injury, and the left side of my face is black and blue."
Her daughter, Leila, was in a child seat and suffered chest abrasions from the restraining harness, Butawan said. Both will see doctors for follow-up visits this week.
The impact pushed Butawan's car into the vehicle stopped in front of her, a heating and air-conditioning van driven by Turlock resident Bob Jordan. Jordan, 57, was uninjured and his company vehicle received only minor damage, the CHP said.
In a telephone interview Tuesday with the AP, Jordan said two drivers who followed Migden off the interstate began berating her immediately after the accident.
"One of them said she'd run him off the road. They were pretty upset that she'd been driving so badly," Jordan said.
"She kept saying, 'You can't talk to me like that, I'm a state senator,"' he said. "She was kind of wobbly. She didn't seem alert. She was not acting normally."
Migden then got back in the SUV and began talking on her cell phone as police and emergency workers arrived, Jordan said.
Williford said the CHP's investigating officer will make a recommendation on whether charges should be filed.
"We're looking at all angles," he said. "The investigation is from the first call that we got (from a driver in Berkeley) up until the accident."
Investigators are confident Migden was not under the influence, Williford said. There was no smell of alcohol, her motor skills were unaffected and she took a preliminary alcohol screen that was negative.
"We've taken that as far as we can take it," Williford said. "The issue of driving under the influence is a dead issue."
Because Migden said she was on state business at the time, insurance paid for by California's taxpayers will cover damages and any other costs, said Senate spokeswoman Alicia Trost. Had Migden been on her own time, her personal insurance would apply, Trost said.
Last year, Migden voted for a law that takes effect in July 2008 requiring drivers to use a headset or other hands-free device when talking on a cell phone while driving.
An e-mail to Migden's office asking whether she planned to comply sooner was not immediately answered.
She needs to be held accountable somehow - preferably in a county jail cell - this is incredible.
I can’t find the D that should be behind her name.
Hypocrite, airhead, political hack, lesbian, and "Do you know who I am?" state sen. Carole Migden
You don’t get to Marin Co. from the bay area by driving to Fairfield. Anyone got the over/under on when she enters Rehab?
Hit and Run on state property is worse than murdering someone in CALIFORNIA. She will get a pass however, since she is a Democrat.
Hit and Run on state property is worse than murdering someone in CALIFORNIA. She will get a pass however, since she is a Democrat.
How would they know without a blood test?
“There was no smell of alcohol...”
Uhhh, there are a lot more ways to be DUI than alcohol.
“...her motor skills were unaffected...”
Contrary to eyewitnesses at the scene who said “She was kind of wobbly. She didn’t seem alert. She was not acting normally.”
“... and she took a preliminary alcohol screen that was negative.”
Did they test for drugs? If this was you or I do you think we would get off with a slap on the wrist and no drug screen or blood test?
Something is fishy here. Time to check her cell records and see which CA dim official she contacted to put a call into the Police Commissioners office.
In a statement released by her office last week, the San Francisco Democrat said the accident happened after she took her eyes off the road while reaching for a ringing cell phone.
Even if she couldn't get to the Golden Gate Bridge, then next closest route is across the Bay Bridge, through Richmond and across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge - which goes nowhere near Fairfield... She was a good 30 miles past where she would have had to turn off to take that route.
Er,...Jon Carry in Rudy Guiliani drag?
Janet Reno impairment. Stoli or Grey Goose?
*Does monster spit-take*
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!!
Where was Carole Midgen the night of the I-580 collapse?
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