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Canada - Woman Stops To Help Ducklings


Her Majesty Dogmad
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This lady stopped her car to help some ducklings cross the road and 2 motorcyclists crashed into it and died. She's now facing life imprisonment. What a terrible situation to be in. I've done the same on a local road ....

http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/emma-czornobaj-found-guilty-of-causing-two-road-deaths-after-stopping-to-help-ducks/story-fnh81jut-1226962032337

A QUEBEC woman who stopped to help ducklings cross a busy highway has been found guilty of causing the deaths of two motorcyclists who crashed into the rear of her car.

Emma Czornobaj, 25, had stopped her car in the left lane of a highway south of Montreal in June 2010, a court heard.

She was trying to round up a gaggle of ducklings that had been wandering in and out of traffic when an unsuspecting 50-year-old motorcyclist slammed into her car at more than 105 kilometres per hour.

Both the motorcyclist and his passenger, his 16 year-old daughter, died in the crash.

A jury on Friday found Czornobaj guilty of two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing death.

She faces up to life in prison when she returns to court in August for sentencing.

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What an odd situation. I suppose that when someone else had a crash as a result of trying to swerve to avoid the ducklings they would have had to charge the ducklings with negligence too?

I don't know, it sounds pretty negligent.

If the motorcylist was traveling at over 100kms/h and it hasn't said they were speeding or anything like that it must have been a highway.

It says she stopped in the left lane, which I assume means there was nowhere to pull over like most highways so she stopped in the actual lane.

That's pretty negligent.

Sad though, she meant well.

ETA: oh, it actually says it was a highway, too.

Edited by melzawelza
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What an odd situation. I suppose that when someone else had a crash as a result of trying to swerve to avoid the ducklings they would have had to charge the ducklings with negligence too?

Huh? What a strange thing to say, especially when two people are dead because the driver was obviously negligent.

Edited by raz
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Sorry guys I'm feeling a bit raw after dealing with a wildlife on roads situation yesterday that could have been better dealt with by the person that caused it.

I thought she had pulled off th road, not stopped in the lane

Edited by kelpiecuddles
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Sorry guys I'm feeling a bit raw after dealing with a wildlife on roads situation yesterday that could have been better dealt with by the person that caused it.

I thought she had pulled off th road, not stopped in the lane

:( poor little natives

Yes I had to read the article twice too. What a tragedy.

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Reminds me of a few weeks ago when I had to come to a dead stop on a local 80 km/h main road to avoid hitting a rat-sized dog that was running all over the road. As soon as I stopped it started running towards my car so I couldn't drive forward onto the verge without the risk of squashing it. Maybe I should have.

BTW in Canada, the left lane is the fast lane.

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She did a very silly thing which caused a catastrophe but I don't think it warrants a life sentence, it wasn't premeditated and was an action borne out of kindness. Even some of the worst criminals/murderers don't get a life sentence.

Edited by Her Majesty Dogmad
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A definite tragedy for all concerned. I didn't click on the link as I had read the story on FB.

It was a motorway and there was no stopping lane. The only room on the side of the lane was about 1m wide so her car was more than halfway across the lane still. The woman stopped so she could save the ducklings. She didn't use hazard lights or anything else to indicate a warning. I think it may have happened at night too.

She made a HUGE error of judgement which resulted in the death of two innocent people. Father and daughter. The daughter was only16.

I'm feel bad for the baby ducks but human lives should be counted as more valuable than a duck's life.

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I don't think it would have happened at night Anne. It's unlikely ducks would be wandering around at night. It was more than likely dark by the time the photo of the car wreck was taken.

If she had time to get out of the car, leaving the door open and a witness saw her on the road bending over the ducks, her car must have been stationary for quite a few seconds. I wonder why the deceased motor cycle rider didn't see the car and have time to steer around it before smashing in to the back of it.

What a tragedy. Two people dead and one kind hearted person who was trying to help animals and who had no intent of harming anyone now has to serve jail time.

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Deliberately stopping in the fast lane of a high speed highway when there isn't room to get the car off the road, and not even putting your hazard lights on, is incredibly negligent. I feel a little sorry for her but much sorrier for the relatives of the poor victims.

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It is sad, but everyone knows you don't stop for animals. However, easier said than done, because I've seen many people swerve or stop to avoid hitting an animal, including my husband who's an extremely careful driver. It's human nature to not want to hurt something and in the heat of the moment, you often don't think.

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