Woman adding sugar to coffee crashes SUV into Oregon river

At least she wasn't texting...

 

I would never wish serious injury upon anyway, but I must say that this person got what they had coming. Does it really take that much time to add sugar to coffee before you drive away? 60 seconds of time? The sad part, is she will probably still have her license and most likely repeat her actions once she gets the next vehicle. I wish people would pay more attention to the most important task at hand when behind the wheel.

 

Do insurance policies cover this sort of thing, or is there an exclusion for extreme negligence while driving? Considering that she could have killed someone, she should never be allowed to drive again, and she should not be reimbursed for the damage to the vehicle.

For that matter, how about real jail time for gross recklessness while driving! Say, six months for anything that takes your attention so completely off the road, two years if it causes an accident, five years if someone is hurt in the accident, and life without parole if someone is killed in the accident. Double the numbers for a second offense.

Am I being extreme? A car, especially an SUV, is a deadly weapon, and thirty-seven thousand people died in traffic crashes in the U.S. in 2008. We declared two wars when al Qaeda killed five thousand. This is over seven 9/11s EVERY YEAR. And yet we tolerate the kinds of recklessness that cause many of these deaths!

 

There are a lot of things that can distract a driver now a days. Between, Audio, Video systems, Intergrated Cell Phones, and various vehicle feedback displays that exist on many automobiles. Couple that with a drivers commitment or lack of commitment to remaining focused, IE: Adding Sugar to coffee...drinking the coffee itself, or (This is the one I've seen and Hate) women (sorry ladies) applying make-up while driving.

I don't know, my Honda Fit comes with a ridiculous amount of cup holders. Which is "nice" but does encourage drinking liquids while driving...which can be dangerous.

Part of this is evolution. I remember growing up as a child with a 67 Mustang my Parents inherited. But when I was a kid, going for a drive WAS THE ENTERTAINMENT. Now people expect their automobiles not only to be transportation but also to be an entire entertainment enviroment. People expect, communication capablility, Video viewing options, Excellent Stereo's with huge music library capability. Add to it, GPS systems that are telling people where to drive, if not how to drive..I have to admit a fondness for a time when Automobiles where simply modes of transportation and not expected to be rolling, high speed home enviroments. I think it's the change in these expectations that lead to people feeling comfortable mixing coffee while driving, or applying make-up while driving.

When I was a child? I loved going for drives with my parents when they went anywhere, But what I loved was being in the car and watching the world go by. Today, Parents want a DVD player in the headrest, so they can transistion the child from watching TV at home, to watching TV on the go....and I'm sorry if I think that is bad, and something is lost.

 

Wow, I live in Oregon, and it could be coincidence but I swear I've seen that car. I remember noting it, because it's a Lincoln (sorta rare) and also a behemoth gas guzzler.

Since nobody was seriously hurt am I being evil in admitting to a certain feeling of happiness in seeing the vehicle swimming?

 

Did anyone happen to ask if she was alright?

OK, it was a stupid thing to do, which she should have known and has now learned the hard way. But we should make a distinction between the vehicle and the driver. If she'd been driving a Prius, would we be discussing jail time? No, we'd be enduring endless jokes about electrocuted fish. Not that I'm defending the choice of vehicle or poor driving habits, just sayin' bias cuts both ways.

 

The O-Live article says she was taken to a local hospital and treated for "minor" injuries....so I'm assuming she is both lucky and okay. Which you are correct....is the most important thing.

I think I am, probably applying some unfair preconcieved almost subconcious stereotypes to this incident based on limited information and a personal hatred for obviously affluent oversized gas guzzling vehicles being driven by lone drivers mixing coffee....

Well, I'm not perfect.....the fact that it was a huge well equipped vehicle probably saved her from a lot of injury.

I shudder to think how the story might unfold if it was a Prius.

 

If it was a Sequoia or Prius or Camry that she was driving then she'd be lining up with others to join the line of fakers and hoaxers complaining about UA or pedals or something else .... other than sugar.

 

Well in the suburban Portland area inwhich I live, it's basicly the land of Subaru station wagons and Prius. Navigators are noticeable if not gold nugget rare.

Of course it makes no difference, and I can't be sure...but I know I've seen a Black Lincoln Navigator like the one now catching fish.

 

Since no woman on Earth is more attractive with makeup than without, and most are less attractive, and some are downright grotesque, what amazes me is that any woman would risk death in a horrible fiery automobile crash in order to make herself ugly!

Soap and hot water is the best beautification there is.

YES!!! Absolutely!!! Now, if it had been a Prius I'd not have been as happy to see the vehicle damaged, but I'd still be calling for jail time for the reckless driver.

And I do distinguish between car and driver: I do not want any person to be hurt or injured. I just want jail time for attempted murder, and reckless driving is attempted murder. On the other hand, I want SUVs destroyed (in an environmentally responsible manner and without hurting anyone).

That may be. But it doesn't change the fact that whether the driver is in a responsible car or a monstrosity, reckless driving should be treated as the cause of innumerable innocent deaths that it is.

 

P.S. I wonder when this woman is going to sue the car maker for not posting a sign on the sunscreen, warning that driving while adding sugar to coffee is hazardous.

 

It should be right next to the notice that says "Do not read this notice while driving"

 

nice river.

 

Wow . . . . . .


sure hope she didn't spill her coffee

 

The moral of the story: don't use sugar in coffee.

 

I LOLed. That needs to have FAIL pasted somewhere on it. And then emailed to the driver. Several thousand times.

 

Carfax listing: "New upholstery, minor bodywork."

Tom