It’s so ridiculous that it would be funny — if nobody had been killed.
An Illinois woman, Lora Hunt, went on trial this week on reckless homicide charges in the death of motorcyclist Anita Zaffke, of Lake Zurich, Ill. Hunt was a distracted driver who struck and killed Zaffke. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-05-04/news/ct-met-nail-polish-crash-0505-20100504_1_lora-hunt-anita-zaffke-nails
No, Hunt wasn’t on her cellphone or texting someone. She was so busy applying nail polish while she was driving that she slammed Zaffke from behind as the woman sat on her motorcycle waiting for a red light to change. The accident took place May 2, 2009 in Lake Zurich.
It would have been hard not to notice 56-year-old Zaffke. She was wearing a bright green fluorescent safety jacket, according to the prosecutor in the case. But when you’re busy making sure your nail polish is going on right, we guess you don’t notice a jacket like that.
The only thing we’ve heard of that was this stupid was the case of the truck driver who was watching porn on his laptop while driving. He crashed into a car and killed a woman.
In the nail polish trial, the jury will see photos of the crash scene that will show red nail polish on the dashboard, air bag and passenger-side door of Hunt’s Chevy Impala.
Hunt, a 48-year-old Morris, Ill., resident, continued polishing her nails even after the light she was approaching turned yellow, according to the prosecution in the trial in Lake County Circuit Court.
The prosecutor claims that Hunt was driving 50 mph when she struck Zaffke on her motorcycle. The victim suffered traumatic brain injuries, including a brainstem fracture.
But here’s the kicker. Hunt is a nurse.
When she realized she had hit someone, she did stop and get out of her car.
“I’m a nurse and I thought I had to do something,” she said in a statement after the fatal accident, according to The Chicago Tribune.