Big Cliff Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-woman-found-guilty-after-cyclist-passenger-died-while-she-helped-ducks/article19258695/ She tried to do a good thing, IMHO she tried to do the right thing! I am so sorry that it had a tragic ending for the people involved but I want to know where the JUST is in justice here! I don't see any!
smitty55 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 She may have had good intentions but she obviously has no common sense at all to stop in the fast lane of a busy highway to help some ducks. You only have to look at the results to realize what a bone head play that was. The justice I want to see is her going to jail for causing the deaths of two innocent people over a few ducklings. What a waste. Cheers
bare foot wader Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 will be interesting to see what she receives during sentencing....she is completely at fault IMO, you don't just park your car on a busy highway... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/woman-was-helping-ducks-when-motorcycle-hit-her-parked-car-trial-told/article18977229/ Woman was helping ducks when motorcycle hit her parked car, trial told Crown prosectors say there was nothing reasonable about a Quebecker’s decision to park her car on a busy highway to help ducks, an act they allege triggered events that left two people dead. Emma Czornobaj has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death. Czornobaj, now 25, is accused in the deaths of Andre Roy, 50, and his daughter Jessie, 16. Roy was driving and his daughter was riding pillion on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that slammed into the accused’s car in June, 2010. The Crown said in its opening statement Tuesday that Czornobaj, of Chateauguay, wasn’t physically in her car and that the vehicle was at a dead stop in the left lane of a highway south of Montreal. Prosecutor Annie-Claude Chasse said witness and police testimony will show she was on a narrow patch next to the passing lane, tending to a family of ducks on the roadway. “Would a reasonable and prudent person, in the same circumstances as was the accused, have done the same?” Chasse asked the jury. “Would that reasonable and prudent person have stopped their car, on a busy highway, in order to save some ducks?” The charges are serious. Criminal negligence causing death carries a maximum life sentence while the charge of dangerous driving causing death comes with a maximum of 14 years in jail. Czornobaj has no previous record. Witnesses expected to testify include Pauline Volikakis, who lost her husband and only child in the tragedy. She was riding in a motorcycle behind the two victims and saw the events as they unfolded on Highway 30, south of Montreal. On Tuesday, eyewitness Martine Tessier testified she was driving along the same stretch of highway on June 27, 2010. The weather was nice, the sun was setting and the road conditions were excellent. Tessier said she was driving about 110 kilometres an hour when she saw a woman along the side of the road seemingly trying to shoo along a family of ducks. “I shouted to my kids [in the car], ‘What is she doing there? She’s going to get killed,’ ” Tessier told the jury. She testified that, moments later, she was staring down a car, completely stopped with no hazard lights on, with the door open on the driver’s side. “It was close enough that I knew I didn’t have time to brake,” Tessier said. Instead, she swerved to get around the car. Then she looked back in her rear-view mirror and saw something else hit the vehicle. “I saw a body go over the car, it was like a rag doll,” Tessier said. “I shouted to my daughter to call 911 with my cellphone.” The jury is composed of 10 men and two women, while three weeks have been set aside for the trial. The two victims were from St-Constant.
Big Cliff Posted June 20, 2014 Author Report Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) Ya, what ever happened to "care and control of your vechiel"? I stop to help a turtle cross the road; some one runs into me: I should surrender the rest of my life? what a sad sad world! Edited June 20, 2014 by Big Cliff
MrSimon Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 Cliff, you are looking at the wrong way. Helping an animal is great ... something we should do more of. But doing it while simultaneously putting other people's lives in danger shows incredibly poor judgement.
BillM Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 Definitely a bad bad move, but I'm guessing target fixation played a big role in this as well. How do you just slam into the back of a parked car? It's not like she instantly stopped, and obviously they weren't right behind her.... It's just a crappy situation all around.
Christopheraaron Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 Stupid move and she is at fault, but 56 years is a little much I think....
SirCranksalot Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 Part of being an adult is thinking about the consequences of and being responsible for your actions. She was being irresponsible to the point of being criminally negligent.;
BucktownAngler Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 She may have had good intentions but she obviously has no common sense at all to stop in the fast lane of a busy highway to help some ducks. You only have to look at the results to realize what a bone head play that was. The justice I want to see is her going to jail for causing the deaths of two innocent people over a few ducklings. What a waste. Cheers yup
davey buoy Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 Her intensions were good,except on a freeway, stopped vehicles in the fast lane come up real fast.30 plus years running the 400,Barrie to Toronto and back.Some of the wreckage from someone who stopped with a flat tire in the fast lane has closed highways for hours.Not to mention the one just ahead of me about 12 years ago.Heard the outcome was not good .Three had lost their lives in that one.
bare foot wader Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 clearly not intentional and a very sad accident, fault is squarely on the woman but can still feel a lot of sympathy for everybody involved....from the ON drivers handbook, would assume the Quebec book would cover something similar "If you wish to watch an animal, find a safe place to pull completely off the road and park first. Do not park on the shoulder of the road, as other drivers may be distracted by the animal and hit your vehicle."
Big Cliff Posted June 20, 2014 Author Report Posted June 20, 2014 Drunk drivers kill people every day and they get a slap on the wrist! If she had plowed through these ducks and one had flown into these bikers and they had lost control and died who would you blame then? I'm sorry, what she did might have been the wrong thing to do but she tried to do what she thought was right! I don't think the penalty fits the crime.
Terry Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 she did the wrong thing for the right reasons human life comes first and one must consider the consequences before acting no matter how noble you think your deeds are
Fisherman Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 No worse than the dopey twit that stopped in the #2 lane on the 400 North to add window washer to her reservoir.
kuhaman Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 she did the wrong thing for the right reasons human life comes first and one must consider the consequences before acting no matter how noble you think your deeds are Exactly !
bare foot wader Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 drunk drivers who kill people don't just get a slap on the wrist.....there is no penalty yet, only a guilty verdict, she hasn't been sentenced, the article said Aug 8th no? and wouldn't expect her to receive a harsh sentence human life should be more valuable than animal life, but that viewpoint is quickly shifting
Burtess Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 Driving home last week there was a turtle crossing the two lane road in the oncoming lane. First thought was to pull a u turn and move it to the ditch. Then I think of the location.... just over the crest of a hill... if I stop either my car would not be seen or they would see the car but not see me and I get run over...... to bad for the turtle! This girl had absolutely no common sense and is like many fanatical animal lovers today, they see an animal in peril and they will do anything for it, even if it means risking their life or someone else. It's like they go into a trance. Burt
Sharkbait22 Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 Stupid move for sure but lets say her car stalled for some reason or there was an accident in front of her. Everyone must travel at a speed and pay attention such that you can stop in such circumstances.
Big Cliff Posted June 20, 2014 Author Report Posted June 20, 2014 Oh, like I'm sure she thought about it.... gee, "save some ducks kill some people". I am quite sure she didn't think that someone would rear end her and die. As for drunk drivers: I know of one that drove a transport truck into a car on the QEW and killed two people, he got two years less a day. He was so drunk that he didn't even know he had hit anyone. If that isn't a slap on the wrist then what is?
Joey Posted June 20, 2014 Report Posted June 20, 2014 I think that is the point Cliff. She didn't think it would happen, yet it did. So she is now found guilty of negligence because she was negligent in not thinking about the consequences of her actions. Those actions caused the death of two people.
bow slayer Posted June 21, 2014 Report Posted June 21, 2014 very unfortunate all round,but sending her to prison serves what purpose,only to basically end a third life,there should be a punishment for her bad desicion but prison is not it. very tragic
SirCranksalot Posted June 21, 2014 Report Posted June 21, 2014 I'm not sure what weight, if any, the courts give 'intent'. As the old saying goes----the road to hell is paved with good intentions. As I see it, it's the actions, not the thought process, that count.
BillM Posted June 21, 2014 Report Posted June 21, 2014 Stupid move for sure but lets say her car stalled for some reason or there was an accident in front of her. Everyone must travel at a speed and pay attention such that you can stop in such circumstances. Good point. If the motorcyclists weren't paying attention and slammed into the back of a disabled car, who's at fault now? The guy who's car broke down? I highly doubt it. Even in this case, the motorcyclist has to take some responsibility.
crappieperchhunter Posted June 21, 2014 Report Posted June 21, 2014 I am the first person to pull over for a turtle on the road. Couldn't begin to guess how many over the years. But this moron didn't pull over...they flat out stopped on a highway. The thought of someone being that stupid just angers me...I can't begin to understand how the family of the people who where killed feel. Sorry Cliff I feel that this was 100% avoidable if the dumb driver had just got the hell off the highway. I'm not sure what good prison will do...but they should never be allowed to drive again...period. Actions like that don't deserve a second chance in my books.
Sandbag Posted June 21, 2014 Report Posted June 21, 2014 Drunk drivers kill people every day and they get a slap on the wrist! If she had plowed through these ducks and one had flown into these bikers and they had lost control and died who would you blame then? I'm sorry, what she did might have been the wrong thing to do but she tried to do what she thought was right! I don't think the penalty fits the crime. I'm not sure that we know the penalty yet do we Cliff.....I agree her heart had no malice whatsoever......but also had a huge lapse in judgement. very sad story all around. Cheers Craig
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