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A suburban motorcyclist died Saturday night when another driver, painting her fingernails behind the wheel, slammed into her stopped bike at a yellow light in Lake Zurich. According to Lake County Coroner Richard Keller, the biker, Anita Zaffke, died of chest and abdominal injuries sustained in the incident at the intersection of Route 12 and Old McHenry Road (pictured right) when a Chevrolet Impala rear ended her bike around 5:30 p.m. Zaffke was wearing a helmet, and was taken to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, where she was pronounced dead an hour later.
Police said Zaffke did nothing wrong and could not have avoided the accident. The driver of the Impala, who was not named by the police, was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and could face additional charges. The driver admitted to authorities that she was painting her fingernails while driving. Keller said the force of the crash "pushed" Zaffke and her motorcycle several hundred feet forward.
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i dont konw how the words "could face additional charges" are applicable to this horrible case of careless driver fuckery.
The Lake County State's Attorney had better damn well charge this idiot with vehicular murder or whatever the equivalent is & send her to prison for 30 years minimum!
I'll never forget the guy I saw at Lawrence and Western who was dipping McNuggets with both hands and apparently driving with his knees, trying to execute a left hand turn.
failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident
Love how the law is so DRACONIAN in other aspects of life but is sooooo incredibly LENIENT in others.
Personally though, I'm not sure doing your nails is any less dangerous than screaming into a phone while turning in the middle of a busy intersection, which I see every day here.
wow. just, wow.
After watching that model get by with a slap on the wrist for killing those three men in Skokie, I'm not expecting much for this IDIOT. What a terrible, senseless tragedy.
There was another case where a teenager was texting while driving and killed a guy who was on his bicycle and walked away with a slap on the wrist.
It blows my mind that there are no laws on the books regarding doing things like while driving. I have been accused, many times, in my life of being too emotional and not thinking logically...but to me it just defies logic that you can text and paint nails while driving, kill someone and be able to walk. I don't get it.
From what I've been reading, it doesn't look like this person will face much of a charge either. How many innocent people have to die from this kind of negligence before they start passing laws.
I get enraged when I see people yacking on their cells, or texting..but painting your nails while driving really is a new low.
I am getting sick of motorists that kill people receive just a slap on the wrists. They need to serve serious time.
Mandatory sentencing for small drug offenses...but kill someone in your car, and you'll get a $100 fine and a couple points. Nothing to see here.
statesattorney@lakecountyil.gov
i am so sick to my stomach. why are the car laws so weak? as far as i am concerned 2000 pounds of metal is just as a lethal weapon as a gun and i am pro-gun control.
however, i could have done without the "women drivers" tag on the story. if it was supposed to be funny, i don't find it such. 1. because this isn't a funny story and 2. as a woman, i don't find sexist stereotypes funny, either.
You don't have to be a woman to find sexist stereotypes not funny.
If this story were about someone dying in a bar fight and the tag read "violent men" would that be sexist? I dont think so.
Maybe WE should have a paradigm shift where cars are not considered a Right, as opposed to a Privilege. Maybe Chicagoist will bring this up as a feature story during next years Auto Show. But perhaps it might be UnAmerican to do so?