When Duty Calls and Tragedy Answers
A 50-year old San Diego woman seriously injured a Caltrans employee and a county probation worker when she got distracted while driving her car on the shoulder of northbound Interstate 15 north of state Route 94.
The female driver, who also suffered minor injuries due to the crash, told authorities she was looking for some change when the accident occurred.
The Caltrans spokesman, Edward Cartagena said that probation worker who was hit was one of three probationers picking up trash on the shoulder and that they were being supervised by two Caltrans employees.
The Caltran employee who got hurt was a female and there was another employee who was following slowly behind them in a 2002 GMC Savana van to create a barrier from traffic. The victims were immediately taken to the Scripps-Mercy Hospital.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the female driver, who was driving a white 1992 Infiniti J30, clipped the rear of the Caltrans van, careened to the left, overcorrected to the right, and veered back on the shoulder where she struck the male probationer and female Caltrans employee.
The CHP are still investigating the accident as to whether or not the female driver shall be charged.
Driving is a skill that requires focus and concentration from the driver and it is the driver’s responsibility that she drives safely and responsibly.
According to a study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), 80% of vehicle crashes and 65% of near-crashes involve some form of driver distraction.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles said that there are three types of distractions: visual (eyes off the road), cognitive (driving under the influence), and manual (texting while driving).
The female driver told CHP investigators that she had merely averted her eyes from the road but that fraction of a second where she took her eyes off the road proved to be a fatal mistake.
Should the CHP find that there is no cause to file criminal charges against the woman, the Caltrans employee and the probationer may still file a civil case against her for damages.
The woman’s act of looking for some change may seem harmless and innocent enough but the consequences arising from it are potentially dangerous and in the end, worth a lot more money than some loose change.
Tags: vehicle crashes
