Police: Woman who drove SUV with family off cliff was drunk

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Olga R. Rodriguez, Associated Press
Updated 7:34 pm, Friday, April 13, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A woman was drunk when she drove her large family off a Northern California cliff last month and her wife and several children had large amounts of a drug in their systems that can cause drowsiness, authorities said Friday.

Police had previously said they believed the Hart family died in a suicide plunge from a scenic overlook. The crash happened just days after authorities in Washington state opened an investigation following allegations the children were being neglected.

Preliminary toxicology tests found Jennifer Hart had an alcohol level of 0.102, said California Patrol Capt. Bruce Carpenter. California drivers are considered drunk with a level of 0.08 or higher.

Toxicology tests also found that her wife Sarah Hart and two of their children had "a significant amount" of an ingredient commonly found in the allergy drug Benadryl, which can make people sleepy. Toxicology results for a third child killed are still pending, Carpenter said.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Police-Woman-who-drove-SUV-with-family-off-cliff-12832679.php

[kwassa]

1. This tragedy keeps unfolding and getting worse in every way.

As adoptive parents, they took on a burden they were unequipped to handle. I wonder why, and wonder if we will every find out. I feel so sorry for those children.

[LisaL]

7. I presume nobody made them to adopt, especially that many children.

[Igel]

2. The few facts will provide fertilizer for a lot of speculation to sprout.

Which'll take root and be considered fact.

Need more facts.

My wife and kid have a lot of a drug commonly found in Benadryl in their bloodstreams. They suffer from allergies. And while that may make them sleepy (wife, yes; son, no) it doesn't render them unconscious and able to be picked up and put into a vehicle in that state. That, of course, is an inference from the lack of seatbelt use. Unless, of course, "a lot of" that "drug" means a dose large enough of a particular component so as to compel sleep and lethargy. The reporter doesn't say that. Perhaps the reporter assumes we'll delude ourselves into thinking the reporter said that.

But I could see the seatbelts being unstrapped because of a tussle in the vehicle's cabin. Or if the driver had been threatening something and passengers might decide to bail--but don't have time.

Or maybe just practice among a family that doesn't have a lot of respect for that particular kind of regulation. There are such: Government intrusion into the privacy of, say, a car is to be resisted. Or at least ignored. If it suits them.

The BAL probably results from the stop in Naselle. No time is given. Perhaps it was lunch. Perhaps it was a bar break. Perhaps they had a serious falling out and needed to find some modus vivendi.

Need more facts.

[LittleGirl]

3. absolutely, this! eom

[LisaL]

6. What facts do you need?

They already said they believe this wasn't an accident.

"Greg Baarts, acting assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol’s northern division, said preliminary data from the SUV’s air bag module suggested that the vehicle probably came to a stop at a gravel pullout roughly 70 feet from the cliff before it accelerated and “went straight off the edge.” Investigators also did not find any signs of an accident, such as tire or skid marks, or evidence suggesting that Jennifer Hart had lost control of the SUV."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/04/13/adoptive-mother-of-six-was-drunk-when-she-drove-her-family-off-a-cliff/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.eba3a5df9edd

[Midnight Writer]

4. You can hit .102 with what, two beers? Less, for a woman of slight stature.

[LisaL]

5. And your point would be?