(California) CHP says Camarillo woman distracted by phone kills 2 people, gets misdemeanor

ABC-7 Los Angeles ^ | June 9, 2016 | Amy Powell

[ConservativeStatement]

MOORPARK, Calif. (KABC) -- Two grieving widows who lost their husbands in what the California Highway Patrol called a distracted driving crash were shocked to find out the driver accused of killing them was charged with misdemeanor manslaughter.

Jesse Cushman, 43, and Maciek Malish, 53, were killed by a car in Moorpark when they were struck by Rachel Hill of Camarillo, according to police.

"My life is ruined, of course, and I don't know how to live without my husband, but at least I expect justice for him," Elizabeth Malish, Maciek Malish's wife said.

[BwanaNdege]

If anyone cannot drive and talk on their cell phone at the same time because they become distracted then they have no business getting issued a driver’s license.

It is arrogant statements like that that help convince people that they can intellectually multitask successfully by thinking about their phone conversation and thinking about keeping the car in their lane and, most importantly, THINKING ABOUT ALL THE PERIPHERAL THINGS HAPPENING.

Naval Aviators, USN and USMC Pilots are among the most rigorously selected and trained 'vehicle' operators around. Capable, skilled and educated. Yet during recurring safety training, they are repeatedly reminded that they need to:

Aviate (fly the aircraft!)
Navigate ( keep aware of where you are, where you need to go and how to get there)
Communicate (last and LEAST IMPORTANT - IOW, never get so wrapped up in communicating that you neglect the first two.)

And Naval Aviators seldom have other vehicles or solid objects coming directly at them with closing speeds of 50 to 150 mph and routinely passing within 10 to 20 feet.

[Secret Agent Man]

Negligent homicide at the least. Id say 2nd degree murder.

The caveat of course is that yure only charged if you do kill. But youve done the crime so you will do the time.

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

Who in the world was talking about aviators? ;-)

I repeat, paraphrased: If anyone cannot drive and talk on a cell phone at the same time then they should not be allowed to drive.

[truth_seeker]

“did california repeal the law?”

No it is still the law, and the other poster doesn’t know what they are talking about.

Even talking with hands free can be distracting.

They will charge 2nd degree murder for drunk driving fatalities, in Calif.

If you are so recklessly distracted by the phone, and hurt/kill somebody the penalty should be more than a misdemeanor.

[Jack Hammer]

One has long since come to expect lunacy from California.

[agere_contra]

Thank you for the useful comparison with aviation.

If this woman had learnt to drive first and communicate second, two much-loved people would still be alive.

[MrEdd]

And as promised, incapable drivers loudly self identify.

[Pearls Before Swine]

The cell time can easily be verified, but I doubt that the time of the accident can be precisely known.

Some cars have OnStar like notification of deceleration and crash events, but not all.

[trebb]

It is not illegal to use cell phones while driving. So, it is up to the prosecution to prove that the driver was distracted. More than 40,000 people die in automobile accidents each year. Fact of life.

You never saw a car weaving and becoming a menace with the driver playing on the phone?

[bert]

if you blow the horn, they compound the problem by giving you the finger

[VRW Conspirator]

misdemeanor manslaughter

Oxymoron at its finest.

[xrmusn]

if you blow the horn, they compound the problem by giving you the finger
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
YES...

One hand on phone, squeezed up against their head
One hand with a fork full of ???

One hand to Flip you off....

While on the phones...Notice how sitting someplace and EVERYONE — your kids, grandkids etc on the ‘device’ and YOU (somewhat) apologize if you say something and someone has to ‘look up’.

I refuse to apologize anymore and have been known to leave the area and fend for myself - to get the old ‘Grandpa is having a moment again’ routine.

I guess ‘we’ were ‘bad’ as far as our parents and their peers thought we were but this ‘me first’ generation brings on new challenges.

I guess they/we will survive, just as we did, much to the chagrin of our ‘elders’.

Of course EVERY generation was/is filled with people that figure anyone younger than them (BOY is that list growing every day)couldn’t pour pee out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel.

[BwanaNdege]

I repeat, paraphrased: If the best trained vehicle operators in the world need to be reminded that “communicating” (similar to talking on a cellphone) can be a dangerous distraction from the PRIMARY task of safely operating their vehicle then the same principle applies to driving a car while using a cellphone.

Distracted driving kills.

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

“Distracted driving kills.”

And.....I repeat, paraphrased, again: If one is distracted by a simple cell phone while driving then they have no business being behind the wheel of an automotive vehicle.

Never mind an aircraft.