1 YEAR OLD BANNED FROM USING A PHONE FOR LIFE AFTER CAR CRASH
A year ago, Ani Voskanian’s changed, as the 21 year old Californian woman got involved in a car crash at the corner of California and Columbus that cost 80 year old Misak Ranjibar his life. After a 3 month investigation Voskanian was charged with one count of felony gross vehicular manslaughter, as it was discovered that she was texting while driving 75 seconds before the accident. While she faced up to 20 years in jail, Court Judge Patrick Hegarty accepted her no contest plea and gave her community sentence that has a surprising specific condition.
In addition to having her driving license revoked for three years, Voskanian has been ordered to serve three year probation and 300 hours of community service in which she will have to tour junior and high school educating students on the dangers of texting while driving. Moreover, she is now banned for life from using a cell phone while inside a vehicle.
After the trial, Glendale Police Det. Ashraf Mankarios responded to critics who said Voskanian got off easy after recklessly causing a man’s death.
“In this particular case, there is a tragic loss of a father of a family. On the other hand, another family could have lost their daughter,” said the man who was the lead investigator in the case. “Although she will suffer the consequence as the result of this, in the end, both families came together, hugged and appear to be healing.”
California has recently approved a bill to more than double the fines for texting while driving. Fines for using handheld cell phones or texting while driving would increase to $50 for a first offense ($310 with court costs) and to $100 for additional offenses ($528 with court costs). Also, a point would be charged against the driver’s license on second and subsequent offenses. The bill is still waiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval.
Source: LA Times, August 19, 2011
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In addition to having her driving license revoked for three years, Voskanian has been ordered to serve three year probation and 300 hours of community service in which she will have to tour junior and high school educating students on the dangers of texting while driving. Moreover, she is now banned for life from using a cell phone while inside a vehicle.
After the trial, Glendale Police Det. Ashraf Mankarios responded to critics who said Voskanian got off easy after recklessly causing a man’s death.
“In this particular case, there is a tragic loss of a father of a family. On the other hand, another family could have lost their daughter,” said the man who was the lead investigator in the case. “Although she will suffer the consequence as the result of this, in the end, both families came together, hugged and appear to be healing.”
California has recently approved a bill to more than double the fines for texting while driving. Fines for using handheld cell phones or texting while driving would increase to $50 for a first offense ($310 with court costs) and to $100 for additional offenses ($528 with court costs). Also, a point would be charged against the driver’s license on second and subsequent offenses. The bill is still waiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval.
Source: LA Times, August 19, 2011
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