Emma Czornobaj, the driver who stopped to help ducks across the road, causing a Harley-Davidson rider and passenger to die after hitting her car, is back on the road.
Back in June, Czornobaj was convicted of criminal negligence causing death, and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. In December, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail, 240 hours of community service and was also handed a 10-year driving ban.
Czornobaj is appealing her trial, though, and as a result, Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Yves-Marie Morissette has suspended her sentence and ordered her drivers’ licence be reinstated for now. So, until her appeal has been heard, Czornobaj is allowed to drive, and will reside at a home in Laval, instead of jail. She was supposed to start serving her term this month, but that’s on hold for now.
she wins a free tubal ligation and all the peking duck she can eat
Only in Canada
Actually, not only in Canada.
True, most of the civilized world has appellate procedures, and a mechanism to hold off on sentence until the appeal is heard.
Stopping on the highway in the passing lane without so much as your hazards on while running around chasing ducks in the right lane causing a distraction from your parked vehicle is definitely criminal negligence. I think she got off lightly, I’ve seen worse handed out for less
I’m glad to see her getting another chance. She may be guilty of a lot of things but criminal negligence causing death ain’t one of them. That rider bares the majority of the blame for his own demise and, unfortunately, his daughter’s. She was stupid and obviously presented a hazard but she didn’t cause the rider to fail to be aware of his surroundings and the imminent danger in front of him. Nor did she make him speed and ride beyond his abilities. She was simply there. If her car had been broken down in the same place we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. When will riders stop blaming car drivers for all the ills of the world and start taking responsibility for their own actions?
The judge disagrees with you. Plus, you say she was stupid. Actually, she was criminally stupid. This resulted in the deaths of two people. And your statement “what if her car was broken down” is a red herring. Her car wasn’t broken down.
When will people start accepting the consequences of their actions, you ask? You might consider asking Ms. Czornobaj the same question.
Your argument is that the rider was mostly at fault so if he had run her over and killed her would it still be her fault for failing to be aware of here surroundings?
This is all part of the Quebec government’s master plan to exterminate motorcyclists: Drive them insane with kafkaesque bureaucracy and unleash as many incompetent drivers as possible to ensure they all die. Only then can the streets be safe for the pur lain.
Wow, pretty f*cked up, aren’t you?
Sorry: I forgot to use the sarcasm font on my earlier post.
Seriously, I really don’t understand why she’s allowed to drive again: Allowing a proven lethally dangerous driver back on the road due to a legal technicality puts the public at risk and should not have been allowed!
A right of appeal and stay of sentence pending is hardly a technicality.