Richard Rodriguez, a 20-year-old who was driving northbound on southbound Highway 101 on 11/8/09 and hit a car carrying four passengers head-on, killing two of them, pleaded guilty to all related charges and allegations on 5/11. Rodriguez now faces up to 19 years in state prison when he is sentenced on 6/1, a term prosecutor Lee Carter said he plans to recommend to the judge.
Wrong-Way Driver Pleads Guilty
Wednesday, May 19, 2010


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Wow, now that is taking responsibility for ones actions. Pleading guilty when you are facing 19 years is not much of a legal strategy.
AZ2SB (anonymous profile)
May 19, 2010 at 5:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder if this tragedy would have happened if he had grown up in a society that didn't have the M.T.V./party/boozing mentality.
He's the tip of the iceberg: our culture needs to truly condemn ALL forms of drinking and driving and educate people that even "one for the road" is Russian Roulette.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
May 19, 2010 at 6:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hear you Bill, as much as we know now about drinking and driving it is unbelivable what a little liquid courage will get us to do.
AZ2SB (anonymous profile)
May 19, 2010 at 10:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Liquid Courage - Not to be confused with peace buds.
"A major study done by the UK Transport Research Laboratory in 2000 found that drivers under the influence of cannabis were more cautious and less likely to drive dangerously. The study examined the effects of marijuana use on drivers through four weeks of tests on driving simulators. The study was commissioned specifically to show that marijuana was impairing, and the british government was embarrassed with the study's conclusion that "marijuana users drive more safely under the influence of cannabis.""
"In Canada, a 1999 University of Toronto meta-analysis of studies into pot and driving showed that drivers who consumed a moderate amount of pot typically refrained from passing cars and drove at a more consistent speed. The analysis also confirmed that marijuana taken alone does not increase a driver's risk of causing an accident."
A massive 1998 study by the University of Adelaide and Transport South Australia examined blood samples from drivers involved in 2,500 accidents. It found that drivers with only cannabis in their systems were slightly less likely to cause accidents than those without. Drivers with both marijuana and alcohol did have a high accident responsibility rate. The report concluded, "there was no indication that marijuana by itself was a cause of fatal accidents."
If you smoked marijuana last week or even last month and you drive a car, you may be sent to prison under new guidelines drafted by the federal government.
The Obama administration released its National Drug Control Strategy guidelines last week. Obama’s new guidelines will criminalize and add to the system hundreds of thousands of people and add thousands of people to the prison industry slave labor complex. In 2007 an American was arrested on marijuana charges every 36 seconds. Obama will increase this criminalization rate significantly.
loonpt (anonymous profile)
May 21, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)