August 12, 2008
Fatigue Likely Cause of Bay Bridge Accident
According to NBC4 and the Washington Post, 19 year old Candy Lynn Baldwinn likely caused the accident that killed one driver, seriously injured two others and caught tens of thousands of people in traffic for hours, when she fell asleep at the wheel. She was on her way home from her mother's wedding Saturday in Baltimore when she fell asleep around 4 a.m. She's since been treated for spleen and liver injuries and had surgery scheduled yesterday for two broken kneecaps. The tractor trailer that swerved and broke through the bridge's barriers and plunged into the bay, killing 57-year-old-driver John Short, has been removed from the bay on Monday afternoon. The right lane of the Bay Bridge's eastbound span reopened on Monday around 4 p.m.
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Man, oh man! That 19 year old should really not have talked to the media. She just admitted to falling asleep at the wheel and causing the accident. That's a whole lotta money her insurance is going to be paying out to the family of the dead driver and the others injured in the accident.
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I agree ya Cranky, there can be some serious negligence charges here. I think it's pretty safe to say that if you just had surgery, are sleep-deprived, and all that other jazz, you probably shouldn't be driving alone through a dangerous area.
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Good thing there are no laws in Maryland that say you can't drive while sleeping.
Yet.
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I'd say Candy Lynn Baldwinndriver isn't going to be baldwinndriving any time soon.
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That sound you just heard: 5,000 area personal injury attorneys popping a boner.
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If her MySpace page boozing pics are any indication, she may not have just been fatigued.
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Bye Bye Bisexual!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=32001037
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Um, her surgeries were a result of the accident, mreford.
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let's just pave over the chesapeake bay.
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For a 19-year old who, on Myspace, says she is looking for "someone who can handle my drinking habits," I'd looove to see those BAC results.
As for her Post quote, "Most likely I'll be able to walk again," I have only this to say: with only broken kneecaps, I doubt anyone was worried that you wouldn't, so save your pathetic pleas for sympathy. No one's cryin' for you, hon.
But hey, enjoy your 15 minutes.
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WizzyLiz, you just provided me with hours of laughter and cringing at the same time.
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"http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=32001037 "
Wow.
Does she know the LNS crowd are going to be on Lifetime?
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I can't believe she hasn't gotten someone to take down that myspace page.
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Wow. Wow. Wow.
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I can't believe she hasn't gotten someone to take down that myspace page.
and lose all of her friends? NO way!!!
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Damn, myspace page appears to be gone now...
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Whoops...false alarm, it's still there. Carry on...
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oh candy.
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Oh man she, a 19 year old female, had pictures of herself drinking on myspace, so I mean....she HAD to have been fucking drunk when this happened amirite?
Geez you guys are just as silly as the people who find a copy of GTA in a 18-25 year old male criminal's house and go "AH HA!!! SO THIS IS WHY HE ROBBED THAT 7-11!"
Not defending the girl at all but if she fell asleep at the wheel, then she fell asleep at the well. Shit happens. Now the kid has to now deal with the fact that something she did resulted in the death of another person. I have a cousin who was involved in a terrible accident where the other person died because neither of them were paying attention to the road for one freakin second. Does that make my cousin an asshole? No. Does he have pictures of him being a goofy boozed up teenager on myspace? Yes. Was he drunk when he got in the accident? No.
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Is she friends with Tom?
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Just in case, we always have Google cache (also useful for those who are blocked from seeing this mess).
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Dauragon the analogy does not hold. There is a proven causative effect between alcohol and automobile accidents. There is no such effect proven between video games and violence.
The fact that this woman was at a wedding -- and obviously enjoys drinking -- totally justifies the speculation.
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Don't you think the cops would have taken the girl's BAC after the accident? Don't you think the title of the article would have been "Alcohol Likely Cause of Accident"?
Just because someone likes to drink alcohol does not mean they were drunk at the time of the accident. And to speculate such is as ridiculous as someone else speculating on the race of a suspect based on the 'type' of crime.
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I think we were all (at least I was) commenting on the ridiculous lack of judgment she showed in what she said to the Post, and then by the photos and quotes she posted online for all the world to see.
However, being that there are a few pictures on her MySpace page of her behind the wheel of a car with bottles of alcohol in her hand and (according to her captions) pretending to drink, her page is littered with quotes about alcohol abuse, and there are numerous pictures of her getting drunk, it's not that much of a leap to have some suspicions about a 4 am deadly car accident.
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@ Dauragon
Normally I'd agree, but this girl has presented herself as nothing less than an irresponsible teenager. Comparing this to whether or not someone plays videos games is apples & oranges. It's been proven time and time again that video games don't cause violence. Alcohol has been proven time and time again to impair judgment.
If I were on a jury, and I saw those photos, I'd convict her in a hot minute.
She'll likely be charged with DUI and vehicular manslaughter on top of any civil suits filed. Life does not bode well for this girl: her life is already over at age 19 and she's got no one to blame but herself.
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"I try to make everyone happy but it seems like someone is always getting hurt."...or dying, hehehehe! OMG, I'm such a bitch!
"Im country so i love me some country boys! BIG trucks r a PLUS!"...I love the way they sound when they crash through walls and make big splashes in the water.
"...I drink, I get drunk, I pass out, NO PROBLEM"...except that one time I swerved on the Bay Bridge...I don't remember much but there was this HAWT Guy driving a really big truck...we were so similar but vastly different. We had a real one-time connection, I think I'll miss him. But not as much as I'm going to miss this wheelchair. For realz, when can I walk again and go clubbing?! I miss you hot bitches!
"I L-O-V-E to read. Yeah call me a bookworm call me a nerd but hey I will be 25 with a hot body and a full wallet!"...does this ass-clown realize that her resume includes working at a cleaning service...and KFC/Taco Bell?
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She’s under 21 all she has to have is .02 BAC. Ask Michael Phelps about underage drinking at the Eastern Shore and he blew a .08. Whatever the case the tucker’s family is going to sue, but you have to squeeze as much as you can out of a TacoBell employee, so I bet they will go after the wedding party too.
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"Don't you think the cops would have taken the girl's BAC after the accident? Don't you think the title of the article would have been "Alcohol Likely Cause of Accident"?"
The details of the article came from the driver and witnesses, not the police, who "would not discuss details of the crash". I'm sure they took blood for BAC. And really, the idea that absence of a certain headline proves, or even implies, anything is ridiculous.
"And to speculate such is as ridiculous as someone else speculating on the race of a suspect based on the 'type' of crime."
You can argue that it is wrong to speculate, but this is just completely different from the scenario you describe. Try making some rational arguments.
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Well if she was drinking then she should be punished accordingly. To assume she was drunk simply because she has some myspace pics up is ridiculous. Is she guilty of coming across as a complete moron on her myspace page? Absolutely. But as of right now, that's all she's guilty of.
As for a rational argument, how about innocent until proven guilty for everyone? To assume this girl is guilty of drunken driving simply because she likes to party is as ridiculous as assuming the one black guy in the 7-11 is guilty of robbery because of his 'thugged' out look.
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As she went to the hospital with injuries, its likely that blood was taken at the hospital for determining her BAC. Usually in cases where someone is injured that's how it is handled.
Four a.m. crash, all day wedding party - I don't think its a shot in the dark to say this person might have had some alcohol in their system at the time of the crash. We shall see.
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in a related note, would the family of the girl (or the bartender at the wedding) be charged with a felony of providing alcohol to a minor?
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"Four a.m. crash, all day wedding party - I don't think its a shot in the dark to say this person might have had some alcohol in their system at the time of the crash."
Stop speculating, dammit!
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"Stop speculating, dammit!"
Start betting, dammit!, what is the over/under on the BAC?
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Stop speculating, dammit!
This would make a good tshirt: like STOP SNITCHIN', but with a big question mark vs.a stop sign. John Edward's floozie could have used one last week.
And I'll stop speculating when you pull my cold, dead brain out of my body (which you may as well do now, since its August and I'm not using it anyway.)
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I like how one of her interests is driving...
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If it's speculating to say alcohol may have been involved, then it's also speculating to headline this piece "Fatigue Likely Cause of Bay Bridge Accident."
For someone coming off a night-time or double shift, yeah, I'll accept fatigue. But a teenager after a wedding (even without the damaging Myspace content)? "Fatigue" wouldn't be my first choice.
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Look, all of us single guys and gals are looking for that special someone who can keep up with our drinking. Clearly this truck driver could not. But she's young; there are other fish in the sea. Or bay.
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Dude. She has so much esplaining to do. And I know that teens are supposed to make mistakes, but she could work her whole life and not dig herself out of this hole. Hope she takes the high road and apologizes to the trucker's family. Fer starters.
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Well, this is heartwarming:
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1459792
John Short Jr is classy.
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What are the odds looking like on the BAC coming back .10? I'm betting since it was late she was on the downhill slide and it sounds like they drew blood for the BAC so it would take some time (up to weeks) for that to come back from the lab.