She Drives Me Crazy


Printed on: Thu, May 24, 2007
Senator's story is suspicious
By Kelvin Wade

There's something fishy going on. Last Friday, state Sen. Carole Migden crashed her state issued 2007 Toyota Highlander SUV into a Honda at the intersection of Highway 12 and Beck Avenue here in town. The impact crushed the back of the Honda by three feet and sent the driver and a baby to the emergency room. Migden claimed she was reaching for a ringing cell phone when the accident happened.

The juicy part of the story is that Migden championed the bill that banned cell phone use while driving in California without using a hands-free headset. The law doesn't go into effect until July 1, 2008. Of course, we always love it when someone is hoisted on one's own petard.

But the really interesting part is the half dozen motorists who called 911 to complain about the senator's erratic driving between Berkeley and Fairfield. Anyone who drives I-80 sees erratic driving. For it to be erratic enough to motivate several people to call 911, it had to be really erratic. One motorist claimed to have been driven off the road by the senator. As Keith Sweat sang back in the day, "Something . . . something just ain't right."

Motorists claim that Migden crashed into a concrete median on I-80. In her statement to police, she said she felt like she'd "brushed up against something." Huh? How can you "brush up" against a concrete median in an SUV on a freeway and not know it? I've been in an accident where I "brushed up" against the side of a mountain and you know what? I noticed it.

The Honda that Sen. Migden rear-ended was pushed by the impact into a van driven by Bob Jordan of Turlock. Jordan told the Associated Press that two drivers had followed Migden off the freeway to complain about her erratic driving. He said that Migden kept saying, "You can't talk to me like that, I'm a state senator." Jordan also described Migden as wobbly and "not alert."

First, that whole "I'm a state senator" do-you-know-who-I-am act goes over like poop in a punchbowl. At that point, she wasn't a state senator; she was just a reckless driving idiot who put lives at risk. Second, what about the description of her being wobbly? Was she intoxicated?

No, says the California Highway Patrol. The CHP says it's confident Migden was not under the influence and says it's a "dead issue." There was no smell of alcohol and a preliminary alcohol screen was negative. The statement Migden's office put out after the accident was that she "later passed a routine breathalyzer." How much later? Did she have a blood test? Alcohol isn't the only substance that can impair driving.

Perhaps, there's some other reason. If there was a problem with the vehicle, you'd think she would've stopped before ever reaching Fairfield. Whether there was a medical issue is unknown. Or perhaps she's an easily distracted bad driver. Lord knows there are plenty of those congesting our roadways. There's just something about this case that smells.

One more thing: Since Migden was driving a state-issued vehicle on state business, California taxpayers will pick up the tab for the damage. I say that since we're already footing the bill for the vehicles and insurance, why don't we all spring for a driver for Sen. Migden?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Matt Garcia

Image
Ten years ago, I woke up and turned on my laptop and went to the Daily Republic website and was devastated to learn of the shooting of Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia. I immediately called my brother Tony who answered and knew why I was calling. We shared our shock and horror. But mainly we just cried together on the phone. Later when Matt had been removed from life support and passed away I told Tony that it felt like hope itself had died. He told me, “Matt has inspired too many people to let hope die. But hope took a beating today.” It seemed like some horrible cosmic joke. Twenty-one year old Matt Garcia, elected to the Fairfield City Council on a platform of supporting youth and curbing violence is murdered on the streets of Fairfield. What's worse, his killer mistook him for someone else. It was a pointless act of evil in which a worthless example of a human being took the life of a priceless one. In 2007 Matt invited me to lunch at Joe's Buffet to discuss...
Read more

What if we could enforce our own driving laws?

Image
Thursday, June 6, 2013 Let’s all enforce our own driving laws By Kelvin Wade From page A11 | June 06, 2013 | Leave Comment Vallejo resident Anthony Cardenas, 52, became a local hero after painting his own crosswalk near his home on Sonoma Boulevard at Illinois Street. Cardenas claims the busy street is dangerous for pedestrians, so he painted the crosswalk and earned himself an arrest for felony vandalism and trip to jail for his trouble. Mr. Cardenas makes me want to place my tongue firmly in cheek and take matters into my own hands to make things safer. Have you ever had idiots zoom down your street in complete disregard for kids in the neighborhood? I’d love to creep outside at 3 a.m. with some cement and make my own speed bumps. The next time the speedsters come flying down my street, they’d make a sunroof with their own heads when they hit my new speed bump. BAM! Problem solved. Last week, my friend Nedra Polk asked me to write about the condition of Clay Bank Road between Air B...
Read more

The reason I've ditched my earphones at night

Monday, August 26, 2013 FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA Accident convinces me to ditch my iPad By Kelvin Wade From page A7 | August 22, 2013 | 4 Comments I’ve been an insomniac for years. I used to embrace my insomnia by putting on a pot of coffee at night and doing some of my best writing while the stars were out. I wrote about having a sleep study a couple of months ago and one of the things the analyst told me is I have to stay off my iPad in bed. That hasn’t happened. But recently, my girlfriend Cathi stumbled upon a cure for my nightly iPad habit. So there I was in the middle of the night in bed with earphones in listening to an awesome version of Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die” while pummeling various victims in “Words with Friends” on my iPad when I heard a boom. I turned on a lamp and saw my Beagle, Theo, panting at the bedroom door. I thought he’d jumped against the door to get my attention. Lately, he’s had to go out a lot at night (a dog with the bladder of a mouse...
Read more