California DUI Suspect Accused of Killing a Cyclist Keeps Driver’s License Despite 15 Citations
The Daily Pilot reports a “Newport Beach woman who could face possible vehicular manslaughter charges from a fatal crash” last month also recently plead guilty to an unrelated traffic violation– “her latest in a long string of tickets.”
According to the story, the suspect, Danae Marie Miller, age 22, “pleaded guilty at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana to driving while using her cell phone in November and was given a fine.” Later, Miller was arrested “for allegedly hitting and killing a bicyclist on San Joaquin Hills Road with her car.”
The Pilot reveals Police said the following about the suspect, “She failed a field sobriety test at the scene of the crash, which was only a short distance from her home.” Court records also indicate “since 2005, when Miller was 17 years old, she has received 15 traffic citations for multiple violations, the bulk of them in her first years of driving,” according to the story.
In addition, the Department of Motor Vehicles makes clear, a driver’s license can be suspended if drivers accumulate four points on their record in 12 months, six points in 24 months or eight points in 36 months. Basically, “between July 2005 and January 2008, Miller was convicted of eight traffic violations, each worth one point,” ranging from “speeding to running a stop sign,” says the Pilot.
So how did this happen? The points “were never logged against her,” DMV officials said via the story “because she went to traffic school, which reduced her point count.” Moreover, most people know that drivers can attend traffic school for certain violations once every 18 months as it removes the points against the driver’s record. However, this system can be abused.
In July 2005, “Miller was cited for speeding, following a car too closely and making an illegal turn — each violation worth one point,” according to state records via the Pilot. In April 2006, “she was again cited for speeding, which would’ve earned her a fourth point, per state court requirements.”
Later that year, in November, the suspect “was cited for driving the wrong way on a one-way street.” According to the report, “She paid a fine for earlier speeding violation and waited until April 2007 to clear the wrong-way ticket, when she went to traffic school and got the point off her record.”
In 2007, the suspect “was cited for speeding and running a stop sign in separate incidents, each worth a point, and pleaded guilty,” state records show says the Pilot. Finally, “the time between her tickets from then on, though, never added up to enough points in a given year to suspend her license.”
In Sum, “Miller has been convicted of nine violations worth one point each on top of two cell phone tickets,” state and county records show, says the Pilot. Now, a victim has lost their life due to carelessness and it makes me wonder: how could things ever get this far?
A memorial for the victim from Monday night’s crash, Amine Britel, 41, will be in his native Morocco, a family friend told the Daily Pilot on Thursday.