Driving, cellphones and extravagant perks
Posted By RichC on May 21, 2007
At first read, the story in the San Francisco Chronicle is interesting because California State Senator Carole Migden voted for a bill that fined people for using their cellphone while driving, yet she ends up driving with a cellphone and rearends a Honda sending a person to the hospital. How ironic. At a second read, I noticed that California supplies their state senators with “state issued” cars that are quiet extravagant. Her current damaged car was a 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV which replace “her previous tax-payer funded 2005 Cadillac STS.” The question comes to my mind is Why do elected congressmen and women need such extravagant vehicles; wouldn’t a normal 4 door Ford or Chevy suffice?
State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, was involved in an auto accident on Highway 12 in Solano County this morning that left one person with minor injuries, California Highway Patrol said.
The senator rear-ended a 2005 Honda sedan, which was slowing to a stop behind a van that had already stopped at a red signal light at the intersection of Beck Avenue and Highway 12, said CHP spokesman Marvin Williford. Migden told CHP officers that she had gotten lost while driving to Marin County for a noon meeting when the accident occurred. Migden’s office released a statement saying that her cell phone rang and in reaching for the phone, she took her eyes off the road.
The driver of the Honda suffered minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital. No one else was hurt, Williford said.
The senator was given a breathalyzer test, which showed she wasn’t under the influence of alcohol. No citation were issued, which is typical for minor accidents like this that have no other independent eyewitnesses, Williford said.
She was driving her new state-issued 2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV, which replaced her previous tax-payer funded 2005 Cadillac STS.
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