Let's go find her and run over her at 55

The death of a Lake Zurich motorcyclist, killed when she was struck at a traffic light by a driver painting her fingernails, has been ruled an accident, authorities said Monday.
The autopsy found Anita Zaffke, 56, died of internal injuries to her chest and abdomen and a fractured spine after the crash Saturday afternoon, Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said.
Keller also said a toxicology test run on the driver, Lora L. Hunt, 48, of Morris, was negative. Police do not suspect alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said.
Curran said Hunt experienced "a momentary lapse" and was not paying attention.
"We can all learn from this in the sense that cars are dangerous instruments. We need to be careful, always," he said.
Zaffke, who was wearing a helmet, was riding her Honda Shadow motorcycle south on Rand Road when she stopped at a yellow traffic signal at Old McHenry Road near Lake Zurich. Hunt told police she was painting her fingernails as she drove her Chevy Impala toward the intersection and did not see Zaffke until after she hit her, authorities said.
Hunt's attorney Ragan Freitag told ABC 7 that she has not seen the police report and won't comment on whether Hunt was painting her nails while driving. "At this point she is really distressed. There are some things she remembers and some things she doesn't - she is distraught over this," Freitag told ABC 7.
Zaffke and her motorcycle were pushed forward a few hundred feet by the force of the impact, authorities said.
ABC 7 reported Monday family members said Zaffke was heading from her son's Waukegan apartment to her home. They had been talking about plans for Mother's Day.
"I was pretty much in disbelief at first," said Greg Zaffke, Anita Zaffke's son. "We went up to the intersection, just went up and down, to try to see how this could possibly have happened."
Lake County sheriff's office spokesman Sgt. Christopher Thompson said Hunt has been charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
Curran said the accident would be reconstructed as part of the investigation. Findings will be turned over to the Lake County state's attorney's office for a determination of whether additional charges are warranted, possibly by the end of the week.
"That's going to be the state's attorney's office call," Curran said. "They'll look at everything including the rate of speed."
Curran said there were no skid marks at the accident scene, where the speed limit is 55 mph.
No additional details about the accident are expected to be available until the end of the week when the investigation is finished and the case is turned over to the Lake County state's attorney's office, Thompson added.

 

It looks like it will be left up to the state for prosecution. Write the state attorney and let him know how you feel.

 

The sheriff needs to rethink his remark about "a momentary lapse and was not paying attention" and pull his head out of his ***. The driver was negligent at the very least and there is no excuse for this to happen. The lady should be charged and no plea deal considered!

 

Seems like the police are being rather soft on her about it. I wonder if it was a man reading a newspaper they would say "At this point he is really distressed. There are some things he remembers and some things he doesn't - he is distraught over this". It was a reckless act and should be changed with gross negligence manslaughter.

 

This just gets my blood boiling.

Accidents do happen and we are all human. But when you are driving a car, truck, bus, plane, train, boat or motorcycle you need to be focused on just that DRIVING and where you are going and who is around you and in front of you.

If you are drunk, texting, playing video games, on the cell phone, reading a book, putting on makeup, doing your nails or getting a blow job you are NOT focused and not taking your responsibility seriously and should go to jail for a long while to think about it.

I sure hope they don't disrespect the lady that died and her family by calling this an accident and letting this idiot off scott free.

 

pretty disgusting........

 

"a momentary lapse and was not paying attention" That applies to reaching for the radio and taking your eyes off the road, not f---- doing your nails. At least her family can sue the hell out of her and make her feel some pain. If she was drinking thats a problem but doing her nails is no big deal, give me a break.

 

Please note that they are doing a Ride-In to her funeral. More details can be found at http://www.chicagolandcruisers.com/f...rial-ride.html or http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/...c,39219.0.html

 

Can someone please post a link to the local paper, sheriffs office, and state Dept. The Motorcycle organizations in this area need to start writing in on this one.

 

Perhaps the driver doesn't remember if she was the one driving! Don't even get me started. This is so wrong it's not funny. I'm glad the sheriff clarified his statement "We need to be careful, always". Hell, I normally am just careful when I feel like it! Please keep this one going 'til we find out what happens. Remember when that deputy gal shoved the man out of his wheelchair in Florida?? Man, some things just aren't right! This might be one of them.