Posted on 05/21/2007 11:16:43 PM PDT by KJC1
POSTED: 10:34 pm PDT May 21, 2007
FAIRFIELD -- What initially appeared to be a minor traffic accident involving California State Senator Carole Migden is now part of a broader investigation by the highway patrol.
The KTVU Ten O'Clock News has learned that several motorists phoned the CHP, warning them to stop an erratic and dangerous driver just before Migden crashed her car last Friday.
A peninsula man, who asked us not to use his name, is one of half a dozen drivers so worried about a woman driving erratically and recklessly Friday morning on Interstate 80, they called 911.
It wasn't until Monday he says he learned that State Senator Carole Migden from San Francisco was the driver of the Toyota SUV. Just minutes after telling the highway patrol to stop her before she killed somebody, she was involved in a minor accident at Highway 12 and Beck Road near Fairfield, rear-ending a car at a red light.
On Friday, CHP Officer Marvin Williford issued a statement saying Migden told officers she'd gotten lost and "had missed her exit to an appointment in Marin County."
But her office issued a statement saying "Senator Migden's cell phone rang and in reaching for the phone she took her eyes off the road." A driver said just before the accident, she cut him off.
And after the accident screamed to driver of the vehicle she hit that she was a senator.
"'I'm a senator!' I said 'Fine, let's just see if this is ok.' She didn't seem all there," says witness Adrian Romo.
The highway patrol says it wasn't a breathalyzer test as Migden said in her statement, but a so-called preliminary alcohol screen that she passed. The Peninsula driver says when the woman he now says is Migden passed him the first time here eastbound on Highway 80 going at least 80 miles an hour and swerving from one lane to another.
"I noticed there was a female that was both reading and talking on a cell phone at the same time while trying to negotiate the lanes," says the witness.
He says the driver slowed down a bit and changed lanes, then in his rear view mirror he saw her near the marine world exit closing in behind him in the fast lane.
"I noticed the car hit the center median divide and glance off it," says the driver. "And I thought 'Oh no, there's going to be a big accident,' but there wasn't."
He says he honked at her as she passed him again: "I was surprised there wasn't more damage, but I saw some on the front fender and the rear quarter."
Another driver says he saw Migden hit another center divide after she turned onto Highway 12.
"She flew past me on this side, veered in front of me, then slammed on the brakes and hit the honda in front of me," said accident witness Romo.
A CHP spokesman told us other witnesses reported seeing a driver now thought to be Carole Migden driving recklessly on Highway 80 near Berkeley all the way to Fairfield. Neither Senator Migden nor her press secretary returned calls from KTVU.
This is an interesting one to watch. Late Friday I heard on the radio that she was “disoriented.” By the next morning, I heard she was answering her cell phone and that caused her distraction. As of tonight, reports are coming in from witnesses that she was driving recklessly beforehand, and motorists phoned 911.
Uhhh, I thought the accident was in Fairfield. If so, she missed her exit to an appointment in Marin County by a WHOLE BUNCH. Drink? Drugs? Stupid?
“Drink? Drugs? Stupid?”......California Democrat?
“She didn’t seem all there.” Sounds like she seemed EVERYWHERE.
She’s a liberal. What did you expect? Good thing she used the Honda as a buffer(sarcasm).
Nah, CA is not as liberal as some imagine. CHP is already digging, in other words, more is to come. They did not stop the investigation at “disoriented” or “cell phone.”
There are conflicting reasons given and released to the public.
I think Migden will be toast on this, and it won’t be a sobriety issue. It will be an honesty issue.
bad driving pol ping
The initial article I read on this said that no drivers were cited.
Fairfield? Isn't that where I-505 ties in between I-80/680 and I-5?
Boy she was way off route.
For those that don’t know the area someone should post a map.
Her mistake was screaming “I’M a Senator”. If only she had screamed “I’m a Kennedy”, the CHP would have simply driven her home and apologized to her for her delay.
The CHP had ‘unofficial’ orders not to stop then Speaker of the House Willie Brown. He was notorious for speeding, parking illegally, and other offenses. But he knew how to threaten budgets and that is what really counts in this world.
So she hit a median barrier twice before the finale of hitting the car? Sheesh.
You go that right. If she was coming up I-80 from the Bay Area, I would have thought she would have turned off on 37 in Vallejo and gone west to Marin County. As I understand it, she was headed eastbound on 12 in Fairfield which would have taken her to Rio Vista and Lodi.
Sort of. Fairfield is between Sacramento (I-5) and San Francisco (the I-80/880 split), and about 10 miles west of the I-505 interchange. It’s just east of the I-580 connection. It’s a long way from Marin County.
Ugh. She's a dude.
She reminds me of Phil Specter.
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