Little jail time for fatal wreck
A Yuba City woman who drove across a centerline in the Yuba County foothills and collided head-on with a North San Juan motorcyclist, killing him, was sentenced Monday to the two days in jail, time already served.
Amanda Danielle Driggers had trace amounts of marijuana and Vicodin in her system after the accident that killed 51-year-old David Michael Beaver, but not enough to prove that her driving was impaired, said Yuba County Deputy District Attorney John Vacek.
The accident happened Sept. 5, 2005, on Willow Glen Road. Beaver was headed to a Brownsville music festival, Driggers to Yuba City after celebrating her 18th birthday the night before with friends in Challenge.
Yuba County Judge Debra Givens also sentenced Driggers to two years summary probation, 80 hours in a work program and traffic school attendance.
"No one is suggesting in any way that life is cheap," Driggers' attorney, Matthew Beauchamp, told Givens, commenting on the previously agreed-upon sentence.
None of Beaver's relatives attended the sentencing.
Driggers originally was charged with felony vehicular manslaughter but pleaded no contest in July to a misdemeanor.
After the accident, a bottle containing 13 Vicodin pills was found on the floor of Driggers' car. A prescription for 60 of the pills had been written four days before, according to previous testimony.
Driggers' mother, Julie Parker, told California Hig way Patrol officers her daughter was taking the pills for pain suffered in a car accident about a week before.
Beauchamp said his client surrendered her driver's license after the accident and rides a bicycle to and from work, sometimes in the dark.
At a preliminary hearing, a witness testified that Driggers passed her on Willow Glen Road before the accident, traveling at a high rate of speed and crossing a double yellow line to complete the pass.
But the judge said no evidence suggested Driggers was speeding when she crossed a double yellow line on a curve and hit Beaver.
Beaver was being followed by a friend, Kathleen Whittlesey of Nevada City. She told officers she did not see the collision but heard a crash and saw Beaver's riderless motorcycle coming back toward her.
Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.
