Posted on 05/21/2007 1:51:57 PM PDT by zendari
A Vallejo woman reportedly suffered minor injuries Friday when her car was rear-ended by an SUV driven by a state senator talking on a cell phone while driving through Solano County.
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.
Butawan's 2005 Honda sedan was slowing behind a 2003 GMC Savana van that had stopped at a red light, Williford said. The impact forced Butawan's car into the rear of the van, driven by Bob Jordan, 57, of Turlock.
Butawan complained of pain after the three-vehicle smashup and went to NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield after the crash as a precautionary measure, Williford said.
Migden, 58, accepted blame Friday for the accident.
The collision remains under investigation, but it appears Migden took the wrong exit, inadvertently going on the eastbound I-80 connector onto eastbound Highway 12, Williford said. She was looking for a way to get back onto the freeway when she crashed into Butawan's vehicle, he said.
Migden's sobriety was verified by officers using a hand-held breath-testing unit, even though there was nothing to indicate she had been drinking, Williford said. "It was just a precaution," he said.
Her SUV, which she recently swapped for her taxpayer-funded 2005 Cadillac STS, sustained a dented front grill that kept the hood from closing properly. It was towed to the Fairfield CHP office, where officers used a coat hanger and duct-tape to secure it, before Migden drove it away to a meeting in Marin County.
Migden last year voted for a new law that takes effect in July 2008 that will impose a minimum fine of $20 for anyone caught using a cell phone while driving without a headset, ear bud or other technology that frees both hands.
Liberal democratic State Senator:
1. Drives an SUV (Sierra club must be going nuts). 2. Has her gas guzzler paid for by taxpayers. 3. Rams another vehicle due to reckless driving while talking on a cell phone. 4. Votes for a law to punish the above!
Can you say hypocrisy?
It was nice of Arnold to buy her an SUV Hybrid.
A 2005 Cadillac STS to a 2007 SUV?!!
Budget crunch... what budget crunch?
*ping*
Is it correct to assume that all CA state legislators get free cars? This sounds so incredible that it might even be true. Anyone know?
Critics dispute this claim, suggesting Migden was forced to resign following a scandal over her September 2005 "ghost vote" incident. On August 31, 2005, she used the voting machine of Assemblyman Guy Houston (R-Livermore) to cast the deciding vote for her cosmetic safety bill, SB 484. In a later vote, Guy Houston voted against the bill. Casting a vote in the other house of the Legislature, using another member's machine, was in violation of the rules of the Assembly, and did not count.
Whatever Willie wanted, Willie gotted...bigtime.
Senator Migden will be fine. Overwhelming evidence exists that SUV's often cause crashes on their own. Humans rarely have any say in the matter.
Well, she must have a high opinion of herself. She obviously doesn’t believe in the bill she’s pushing to ban cell phones usage in cars because she thought getting her cell phone was more important than safe driving.
SUV and cell phone notwithstanding, anything you say about Migden is a hate crime, since she’s in a protected class.
All is forgiven because :
1. She’s a good liberal Democrat
2. She was driving a hybrid so she’s emitting less in greenhouse gases.
Now, what would the reaction be if a Republican had the same acccident? Would all be forgiven?
At least Mccain didn't scream “I’m a Senator!”.
He only screamed "I know more about immigration than anybody in this room."
Dairz an awful lot of Senatorial Scream'in goin' on aroun hair!
just wondering if this happened in San Francicso... if so... this whole thread may mean something different.
Someone said Willie Brown. Willie Brown could’t see the ocean from the beach. He was so blind, we had to install special printers that could print in font sizes large enough for him to read. His speeches looked like the font size of a children’s book. Willie had a license because he had the DMV office in the basement and he didn’t have to take the eye exam. He hit a woman on a bicycle when going to the capitol garage under the annex building. He got away with it because she crossed the “T” intersection against a red. Willie never saw her. He couldn’t. He was blind as hell.
Our beloved legislature is the most hypocrital group you’ll ever run across. They’re pampered as if they actually mean something to the residents of this state.
I was employed to support the legislature and their data processing for 20 years - then I couldn’t take it anymore.
I work for Veterans Affairs now. At least I can help a vet - someone who deserves all the assistance we can give them.
LOL. Good news clip!
...in reaching for her cell phone, she took her eyes off the road...
...just before the accident, Migden had cut him off...
“She screamed that she was a Senator. ‘I’m a Senator’.... She didn’t seem all there at the time.”
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