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posted by LaminatorX on Wednesday September 03 2014, @01:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the unsafe-at-any-speed dept.

The Los Angeles Daily News reports that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to press charges against a sheriff’s deputy who fatally struck cyclist Milton Olin Jr. while he was apparently distracted by his mobile digital computer. “Wood entered the bicycle lane as a result of inattention caused by typing into his (Mobile Digital Computer),” according to the declination letter prepared by the Justice System Integrity Division of the District Attorney’s Office and released Wednesday. “He was responding to a deputy who was inquiring whether the fire investigation had been completed. Since Wood was acting within the course and scope of his duties when he began to type his response, under Vehicle Code section 23123.5, he acted lawfully.”

To establish the crime of vehicular manslaughter, prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Wood was criminally negligent. While Wood was texting shortly before the collision, there was no evidence he was texting or doing anything else that would have distracted him at the time of the collision. Olin’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county, the Sheriff’s Department and the deputy, alleging driver negligence and seeking to obtain more information about the incident. “Just because the law allows someone to do something while driving doesn’t mean they are allowed to do something unsafely while driving,” says Eric Bruins. “Hitting someone from behind is very clear evidence that whatever was going on in that car was not safe and should have been considered negligent.”

Update: A day after prosecutors declined to file charges against a distracted sheriff’s deputy who fatally struck a cyclist in Calabasas in December, an official with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said it is launching its own administrative probe into the deputy’s behavior.

 
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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by tangomargarine on Wednesday September 03 2014, @02:45PM

    by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday September 03 2014, @02:45PM (#88919)

    As opposed to his Mobile Analog Computer, which would have taken up the entire back of the squad car and only been useful as an 8-function hand calculator.

    You wouldn't believe how hard it is to keep all those vacuum tubes from breaking while you're driving around all day.

    --
    "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
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  • (Score: 2) by nukkel on Wednesday September 03 2014, @06:33PM

    by nukkel (168) on Wednesday September 03 2014, @06:33PM (#89020)

    Actually, it would be best described as a MICROcomputer, since it is routinely used to measure police officers' dicks.

  • (Score: 1) by Username on Thursday September 04 2014, @12:45AM

    by Username (4557) on Thursday September 04 2014, @12:45AM (#89148)

    Sounds perfect for RTTY.