San Diego County, motoring paradise

You might remember Cecelia Abadie, the Temecula woman who was cited for violating California’s mobile device law after she blew past CHP officer Keith Odle at 85 MPH in the right lane with her Toyota Prius.

That seems like clear evidence of impairment, right? Odle thought so, especially after she became argumentative when he lectured her to be careful when using Google Glass while driving.

San Diego County Traffic Commissioner John Blair disagrees, saying that Odle couldn’t know if Abadie was impaired by the Google Glass device. There’s reasonable doubt, so he threw out the ticket. Remember, Abadie passed to the right of Odle’s clearly marked black and white CHP vehicle. How can you miss that unless your focus is elsewhere?

Blair also dismissed the speeding ticket.

After she was cited but before the trial, Abadie continued to show gross disregard for safety by shooting photos while driving. When the odds finally catch up to her and she kills somebody, no doubt she’ll say how devastated she is and her express her remorse and then get off with the $100 fine for violating CVC 21453. Do you think she saw the pedestrian on the sidewalk as she shot this photo while driving to the airport?


The view from Cecilia Abadie's driver's seat

This is the same court where Commissioner Larry Jones routinely bends over backwards to uphold citations written by San Diego Sheriff Deputies for traffic laws that do not exist. San Diego cyclists who are harassed with tickets by the Sheriff’s office are now advised to procedurally refuse to sign the stipulation to allow the commissioner to hear the trial. Then you will be sent to a court room with an elected judge.

You have a constitutional right to a judge (instead of a commissioner) when deciding contested issues of law or fact. These must be filed as soon as possible when you’re first assigned at arraignment to a particular commissioner or judge. Ask the name.

I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. H/T to Judy Frankel for information regarding the process to see a judge vs a traffic commissioner. H/T also to Mari Lynch in Monterey.

One Comment

  1. The picture shown is semitransparent, but the car navigation app they developed is even worse in that it completely blocks out the square on the right side field of view (http://youtu.be/IZdkIVS53Uw). Right hooks are already the most dangerous situation for bikes, and google glasses will just make it much much worse by creating an almost continuous right side blind spot. Note also the navigation block only comes on at intersections, providing both lack of visibility and distraction at the absolute worst time. For pedestrians, the situation is also very grim, since the opposite side of the cross-walk will be complete obscured until the driver is well committed into the turn (too late).

    If its allowed to be worn during driving, and there is no way to know if its on or off (seems strange since Google collects so much user data), then there is no way to get caught, and everyone will just use it and claim it was off. This is really a doomsday machine for biking. If widely adopted and used while driving, its basically the end for bicycling for many people.

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