A woman from South Florida, Janice Garcia, turned herself in after driving under the influence and hitting a Miami-Dade deputy, leaving him with serious injuries.
The crash was so intense that the on-duty deputy was thrown into the air. Fortunately, he survived the incident that occurred on April 11.
The investigation found that Garcia’s blood alcohol level was nearly 0.15, almost double the Florida legal limit of 0.08, leading to her arrest.
Garcia was eventually taken to court, where she remained silent during the hearing and wept, as Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer read out details of Garcia’s alleged intoxication level and highlighted the severity of the deputy’s injuries.
Deputy Brown Was Propelled Into the Air
CBS News reported the contents of the court documents, which stated that, “the impact propelled Deputy Brown northbound through the air.”
Deputy Brown suffered injuries that required ankle surgery and a skin graft. Unfortunately, he may not be the same physically as he was earlier. David Greenwell of the South Florida PBA said in court:
“Deputy Brown is very seriously injured as a result of careless and reckless driving behavior by a DUI. He will probably never be the same and he’s lucky he is alive today.”
Glazer went on to emphasize how drunk Garcia was to hit an officer on duty at 3:30 in the morning. She said:
“She was almost double the legal limit and struck an officer who was in the line of duty at 3:30 in the morning, and injured him very badly.”
Notably, Garcia does not have a criminal history, and her attorney claimed that the crash was an accident. She remained at the scene of the incident and complied with the police officers who conducted sobriety tests and drew her blood for testing.
The judge set a bond amount of $15,000 for Garcia’s release, which was paid. However, Garcia was placed under house arrest with an ankle monitor. She must also comply with random drug testing.
Despite the ongoing proceedings, Glazer asserted that Garcia’s DUI had a profound and lasting impact on Deputy Brown’s life. She said:
“Deputy Brown’s life is changed forever because she decided to get behind the wheel while inebriated.”
Drunk Driver Used Tesla Autopilot to Get Home in Florida, Gets Arrested
Guessing Headlights recently reported an incident in which 37-year-old Florida woman, Kimberly Brown was found intoxicated by nearly twice the legal limit, sleeping in her Tesla on Interstate 75.
However, Florida State Trooper Kenn Watson described the event as dangerous. He said:
“Unfortunately, she was intoxicated more than twice the legal limit and had made the assumption that the Tesla would get her home safely.”
Tesla’s Autopilot has safety features that monitor driver attentiveness. With Brown sleeping, the Tesla’s safety feature kicked in as it didn’t detect a human supervising the drive, thereby shutting the vehicle down in the middle of the highway.
Moreover, Tesla’s Autopilot system is a driver-assistance system requiring active supervision. An impaired driver cannot provide the attention that Tesla’s Autopilot requires.
The report quoted Alistair Weaver of Edmunds, who said that Tesla’s Autopilot feature detects the driver’s eyes to ensure they are alert and awake. He said:
“You must pay attention. They’re actually monitors within the vehicle that make sure that you’re looking forward and will initially warn you, and then ultimately shut down the car and shut down the system if you’re not paying attention.”
The troopers confirmed that the eye detection feature led Brown’s Tesla to stop in the middle of the highway since it could not detect her eyes.