Posted on 05/22/2007 6:52:39 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
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 emails 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 three 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 email to Migden's office asking whether she planned to comply sooner was not immediately answered.
Reminds me of a little story I recall reading, maybe here. While waiting in some sort of lineup, some VIP tries to jump the line, and when called on it gives the typical “Don’t you know who I am?” line. To which our protagonist responds, “Yeah, I’m the 6’5” 300 lb guy who’s going to beat you senseless unless you get in line like everyone else.” Or words to that effect, anyway. I’d like to see anyone uttering the words “Don’t you know who I am?” automatically sentenced to six months in jail - our society isn’t supposed to work that way.
remember this little stunt?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1475688/posts
CA: ‘Ghost vote’ spooks the Assembly-Senator pushes button of absent GOP member, provoking outrage. ^
Posted by NormsRevenge
On News/Activism ^ 09/02/2005 9:44:51 AM PDT · 28 replies · 1,376+ views
Sac Bee ^ | 9/2/05 | Jim Sanders
Nobody was surprised that state Sen. Carole Migden voted in favor of her own cosmetics bill. The problem was that she did it in the wrong legislative house. Toward the end of Wednesday’s floor session, Migden, a San Francisco Democrat, pushed the voting button of a GOP assemblyman who was temporarily away from his desk. Her action violated Assembly rules and drew an angry response from Republicans. “That behavior cannot be tolerated,” said Assembly Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield. “It’s unheard of on this floor, it’s against the rules, and it cannot be tolerated.” Migden, chairwoman of the powerful...
I thought in accident situations like this DUI tests are required?
State Officials Order Expensive New Vehicles
TheKCRAChannel.com ^ | 12/12/02 | KCRA-TV
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/805661/posts
Posted on 12/12/2002 7:12:05 PM PST by NormsRevenge
State Officials Order Expensive New Vehicles
Officials Order $47,000 SUV, $41,000 Cadillac
POSTED: 4:22 p.m. PST December 12, 2002 UPDATED: 6:03 p.m. PST December 12, 2002
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With the state in the middle of a budget crisis of historic proportions, lawmakers are cutting costs, affecting thousands of jobs, salaries and programs. But KCRA 3 has learned that two newly-elected officials are ordering costly cars at taxpayers’ expense.
Facing thousands of layoffs and a severe budget crisis, state employees are starting to catch wind that two top government officials hope to land in the driver’s seat of luxury vehicles when they take office in three weeks.
The two officials are San Bernardino Republican Bill Leonard and San Francisco Democrat Carole Migden, who are former Assembly members that have recently been elected to the state Board of Equalization — the agency that collects taxes in California.
According to a Board of Equalization spokesperson, Leonard has ordered a 2003 Ford Expedition, estimated at more than $47,000. Documents obtained by KCRA 3 show that Leonard is requesting the Eddie Bauer Edition, plus an in-dash navigation system costing nearly $2,000 extra.
Migden has chosen to drive around in a 2003 Cadillac CTS, valued at more than $41,000.
According to documents obtained by KCRA 3, Migden’s vehicle has more than $8,000 in options, including a garage door opener, sunroof, heated seats and a Bose music system.
From another thread:
“State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, was driving her new state-issued 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV at 10:40 a.m. on eastbound Highway 12 at Beck Avenue when she rear-ended Ellen Butawan, 31, of Vallejo, California Highway Patrol Officer Marvin Williford said.”
Well, a wreck at 10:40 AM on a Friday is awful early to be drinking, but her actions certainly appear to be impaired. Wonder why the CHP just did BA and not a toxicology test on the State Senator? Maybe they were afraid of what they would find?
She was impaired and running late for a lunch appointment. Since she is one of the ruling pigs then no punishment is possible.
Perhaps it’s time for this woman to take a break from politics, let her stunt-double do her job for a while, and have a nice lie down in a clinic somewhere.
Ya think?
FRom the Sac Bee (Excerpted)
Witness says Migden cut him off
By John Hill - Bee Capitol Bureau
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/189987.html
A witness to a collision last Friday involving state Sen. Carole Migden said he was cut off twice by the legislator’s Toyota SUV, once forcing him to veer onto the shoulder, before she rear-ended another car.
After the accident on Highway 12 in Solano County, Migden appeared confused, said Adrian Romo of Concord.
“She just looked lost...,” Romo said. “It looked like she was not all there.”
The California Highway Patrol, which is investigating the accident, said it got several calls in the 40 minutes or so leading up to the accident from drivers concerned about Migden’s driving.
After the accident, Migden passed a field sobriety test, which involves blowing into a medical device to screen for alcohol in the system, Officer Marvin Williford said.
The CHP expects to wrap up its investigation of the accident in the late this week or early next week.
This would be funny if it weren’t so . . . so . . . CALIFORNIA
I had the same question. Anybody out there understand this?
I wonder how this State Representative voted on the hands-Free cell phone bill?
Replying to myself:
Yes! She voted for SB 1613 that fines people for not using hands free devices starting July 2008!
“She kept saying, ‘You can’t talk to me like that, I’m a state senator,’” he said.”
Sounds like a graduate from the John Kerry School of Obfuscation.
BUMP!
This would be funny if it weren’t so . . . so . . . CALIFORNIA
What part of California? None of this goes on where I live. I'm sick of California bashing. More Conservatives live here than in any other state!
Sounds like a U.S.SENATOR to me.
Southern California, just got back from my annual trek to S.D., it was depressing.
Reminds me of a story about Al Capone just when he was first transfered to Alcatraz. There was a long line of convicts waiting to get into the barbers chair for a haircut. Capone cut in front of the first guy in line who complained. Capone asked him: "Do you know who I am?" The convict at the head of the line answered: "Yeah, I know who you are, and if you don't get in the back of the line, I'm gonna know who you WERE." Capone got in the back of the line.
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