UP - DATE: The texting, 405 freeway driving, mom

[Hepburn]

This case is freaking unbelievable! Here is the latest on the lady who was arrested for driving on the 405 Freeway in SoCal, child sitting in her lap and texting while driving:

Bowen was wearing one false eyelash and pink children's elastic underwear on her head when officers pulled her over at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday with three children in the car.

"When they stopped her, she had something on her head," Torrance police Lt. Stephen D'anjou said. "They thought it was a hat. When they investigated further they noticed it was her children's underwear."

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_20335433/hawthorne-woman-could-get-5-years-if-convicted?source=rss_viewed

The article states that she could get five years for her conduct. Amazing what she told the police when she was pulled over -- that somehow the child in her lap had been in a safety seat and she was just holding the child right then because the child had been crying.

[alfredo]

1. Romney has found his running mate.

[Hepburn]

2. Well, could be! n/t

[treestar]

14. DUzy

[surrealAmerican]

3. Do other people do that ...

... I mean wear children's underwear on their heads?

Is this "fashionable" in some subculture, or was it a fashion all her own?

[treestar]

16. I was wondering about that

Mothers of DU! Is there a set of circumstances that could lead to this?

I could see doing it to make the kid laugh, but not in the car.

[Ecumenist]

18. Black woman signing in and HELL NO, I have never heard of this. I wonder is

girlfriend has some other underlying issue. This is getting crazier and crazier. Sounds like it her own invention. I guess.

[Hepburn]

29. Reading from all the problems she has had,

I suspect there are some underlying problems. I thought that when I read the first article about this case.

[NYC_SKP]

4. More....

The woman told police the 1-year-old girl had been secured in a child safety seat, but officers deemed that impossible- the seat's buckle was caked with chocolate that appeared to have accumulated over time, D'anjou said.

"That buckle has been inoperable for some period of time," D'anjou said. "It never could be buckled because it had so much chocolate gunked up. It looks like caked on."

The woman's 4-year-old niece was sitting in the car seat in the back. Bowen's 3-year-old daughter was sleeping across the back seat, also unsecured, police said.

Records showed Bowen was on probation from a previous conviction for child abuse.

Her driving record includes two accidents and previous violations for having a defective windshield or rear window, having no insurance, failing to use her safety belts, failing to use child restraints, failing to stop behind a limit line, making an illegal turn against a posted sign, driving with defective lighting equipment, driving with a missing license plate and driving with a suspended license.

----The woman has six kids. Poor kids.

[Hepburn]

6. She was on probation for child abuse...

...IMO, she should never see those kids again unless under supervision.

These are children who do not have a chance. Can you imagine that mother going to a Parent-Teacher conference, doing homework with her kids, taking them to the library???

Throw-away children.

[NYC_SKP]

15. I'm proud to say that these are the children that we serve in our school.

And they are the most precious, starved for love, responsive to caring adults, students you will ever know.

Sadly, most of these kids don't get to see a school program that serves them.

Yes.

[Hepburn]

26. I taught Continuation HS...

...I can totally identify.

Interesting what I saw: Most of my students were either from the poorest parts of the district...or from the richest areas of the district. Few were in between.

[NYC_SKP]

33. I did not know that about you, Hepburn!

I love having learned that.

I had been volunteering and then went head long into education, eight years in the classroom with at-risk, four of those with long term incarcerants 14-18 yo. Best years, but also lots of sadness.

Now I coordinate programs with largely the same population, but not locked up, and they are the best kids you'll meet.

[Hepburn]

34. Yep...

...I was a teacher and taught the kids no one wanted. More like the kids no one could handle. This was in the early 70s and comprehensive HS was still pretty rigid and most of the students I had just did not do well in that kind of setting. Some druggies, but mostly really intelligent kids who were totally bored or kids that just plain needed some loving attention -- and needed to differentiate between positive and negative attention.

Bravo to you!!! Saving a kid and turning him/her around -- thank you for your efforts!

[lonestarnot]

5. WTF! At first glance, I'm inclined to leave her alone, but texting on the freeway with a boatload

of kids? WTF!

[Hepburn]

7. This happened on the Freeway I travel frequently

Right after noon time, when she was busted, the taffic is not too bad -- like it is at commuter times. But...this is one of the busiest freeways in SoCal with many on/off ramps and merges with other major freeways. This freeway goes through the LAX area and this is Easter/Spring Vacation week -- expect more traffic in that area. Even when "not busy," the 405 is always busy.

And the BS she gave the officers??? Unreal.

[livetohike]

8. When I lived in SoCal, I drove the 405 to get to work (and back) and I've seen

people applying makeup, people reading the paper, people eating/drinking using both hands, people having conversations when they are the only one in the car, and other things. This was years before cell phones and laptops were in use. This story, however, is crazy.

[Hepburn]

11. LOL, same here...

...not unusual to see just about anything and everything. I like the guy's shaving with electric razors. That was always one of my favorites.

But, yeah, this one is over the top even for the 405.

[livetohike]

24. Forgot about the guys shaving and how about women plucking their eyebrows, LOL

I usually kept/keep both hands on the wheel, except for taking a sip of coffee. I couldn't do any of those things we've mentioned then (nearly 30 years ago) or now!

[Hepburn]

27. You win...

...I have never seen the eyebrow plucking routine!

[livetohike]

30. Ha! Now I can't even see to pluck my eyebrows, let alone drive and do it

[Hepburn]

32. LMAO!

If I had tried that stunt while driving, I would now be known as "One-Eyed Hepburn!"

[treestar]

17. In fairness, though, are the cars stopped?

Being stopped dead cold on any So. Cal. Freeway is a definite possibility.

[livetohike]

21. No, they weren't stopped...that's what was so remarkable about it

I had a very early morning commute, so traffic wasn't clogged at that hour.

[treestar]

22. I couldn't even physically do some of those things while driving

Reading a newspaper - I'm just stunned. I'd have to look at the road if moving.

[Hepburn]

25. I used to leave at 5:45 AM to go to work...

...and leave to come home by 1:00 PM at the latest.

That was the only way I could handle the 405 when I was still working in West L.A. and living in the South Bay area. Luckily, I had a boss who did not care when I got to work and when I left as long as all his case files were worked and all the pleadings were done. In fact, going in so early, I got a lot more done because of no interruptions. Some times, I would go in at 1:00 PM and come back at 8:00 PM. But usually it was the early routine. The 405 sucks...just an awful freeway and there is ALWAYS construction work going on. I hate that right hand lane that ends just before the National Blvd/10 Freeway exit going north. Some asshole is always trying to get a few car lengths ahead using that and then cuts someone off -- life me who is usually got off the 405 at National.

[livetohike]

28. I left at 5:20 a.m. Lived in Newbury Park and commuted to El Segundo

Drove alone for a couple years, then carpooled, then van pooled. Until the company took all the vans away. It was a horrible commute in the afternoon (usually left work by 4:00 p.m). I didn't live there in the year of the Olympics, but remember people saying they were on flexible schedules and loved being able to miss the traffic.

Yeah, it will be under construction forever, I think.

[Hepburn]

31. I did the opposite side of the communite -- South Bay to West L.A.

Horrible when raining. One time, it took me 3 hours to get the 20 miles from where I was working back to my home. And...I can not believe some the motorcyclists and how they lane split. OMG!!!!

[Hepburn]

23. Gridlock!

The 405 at peak commuter times = a parking lot.

If there is even a small fender bender -- make that a HUGE parking lot!

[bart95]

9. MADD's obsession with DUI allowed device distraction to slip through the cracks

while the issue went from almost nothing 15 years ago, to the biggest threat to trafic safety today

[randome]

10. The acronym can be repurposed.

Mothers Against Distracted Driving.

[Hepburn]

12. Loud music that make other cars vibrate...

...what a freaking distraction. I feel like a plane is landing somewhere waaaaaaaay too close and it distracts the heck out of me.

[bart95]

13. that and those stupid loud pipes

that 'save lives' of people who dont wear helmets in any state where it's optional

[Quantess]

19. She has 6 kids. How could this family's lives be anything but total chaos?

Hey lady: stop texting while driving, stop holding kids in your lap while you drive, and please, stop having kids!

[Hepburn]

20. Those kids, IMO, have no chance if given back to her

Foster care sucks...but considering what they have had so far? Might be a better choice.

Edit for typo.