Joe Miller, the Republican candidate for Senate from Alaska, has been found at fault in a three-car accident that happened shortly after he took a narrow lead in the Republican primary.
The accident occurred Aug. 27, while the outcome of Mr. Miller’s race against Senator Lisa Murkowski remained unclear and thousands of ballots from the Aug. 24 election were left to be counted. No one was injured in the crash, which happened in Fairbanks, where Mr. Miller lives. Ms. Murkowski conceded the race on Aug. 31.
A release by the Alaska State Troopers on the day of the crash said that around 7:30 a.m., Mr. Miller rear-ended a vehicle that then struck the one ahead of it. No one was charged initially, but last week Mr. Miller was issued a citation for failing to exercise due caution to avoid a collision.
The driver of the front car, Mark Alan Lewis, was cited for stopping on a highway. Mr. Lewis, a medic, said in an interview that he had been in a left turn lane when he was struck. He said troopers told him that evidence showed that part of his vehicle was jutting into the lane of traffic to his right. He said he planned to contest the charge.
Mr. Lewis said his insurance company, USAA, which also insures Mr. Miller, had told him that Mr. Miller’s policy would pay for the accident costs, including a rental car Mr. Lewis has driven since the accident. “The trooper cited me in spite of the fact that Mr. Miller was held liable for the accident by the insurance company,” Mr. Lewis said.
A spokesman for Mr. Miller did not respond to requests for comment.
Okay many of you probably remember that I covered this accident back when it happened last Saturday, the day after it happened.
To your credit pretty much all of YOU knew right away that since Joe Miller's car was the first to impact another vehicle, and that he did so form the rear, that HE would be in the wrong. However surprisingly Joe Miller, an attorney practicing in Alaska, did not seem to have the same grasp of law that all of you had.
From the Fairbanks Newsminer:
A Miller campaign spokesman said that Miller, an attorney, was not one of the drivers at fault. The former federal magistrate judge and Gulf War veteran was scheduled to argue in court Friday morning and had also agreed to be interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, according to campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto.
“We spoke about it briefly,” DeSoto said. “He said that he did some damage to his truck. I think he’s a little sore. We didn’t get a chance to talk about it a lot. From what Joe told me, it wasn’t his fault.”
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - U S Senate candidate Miller in vehicle accident in Fairbanks
So, to be clear, the man who wants to go to Washington in order to pass legislation and vote on new laws and regulations, does not understand that when HE is driving the car which is the first to make impact in a three car accident that HE is at least one of the people at fault?
Or does he only understand the laws that do not find that HE is in the wrong? And who does THAT sound like?
Come on Alaska! Wake up! We can do so much better than this.
Has Joe been rear ending Sarah too?
ReplyDeleteWell it appears he is actually a lawyer and a politician. "Deny, Deny, Deny and blame the other guy!" He learned well from the feet of Palin uh?
ReplyDeleteDoes a citation in Alaska mean the same as getting a "ticket" in the lower 48? Or is a citation a warning in Alaska?
ReplyDeleteI hope his auto insurance goes sky high.
ReplyDeleteBTW, do any of his EIGHT KIDS drive?
The first tenet of driving is: Watch where you're going. Obviously, Miller can't even grasp that simple concept.
But, but, don't those dumb people know that we're above the law? Sarah told me so. She guaranteed the same "ocifers" who cover her & her family's tracks would cover mine too. Waaaaaaw!
ReplyDelete"I'm refudiating the charges."
Please do not vote this guy into the Senate. There was an article about Miller in WashPo the other day. He's already making plans to move here to VIRGINIA . We've already been cursed with Ken Cuccinelli and Bob McDonnell.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I can't help thinking that three-days-unshaven look went out with Miami Vice and Yasser Arafat. So are mullets, rat tails and fluff-chick hair still de rigueur up there, too?
ReplyDeleteWhat's with these delusional, cowardly, take no responsibility and accuse others, tea baggers?
ReplyDeleteSo Joe's aide sent the whore tweet, Lisa Murkowski was trying to steal the election and it wasn't his fault he rear ended the car.
What a joke.
Maybe he was counting some more campaign funds from God at the time?
ReplyDeleteI believe it's called "strict liability. When you are behind another car, unless there are substantial mitigating factors (such as the car ahead brakes to avoid hitting a child who suddenly ran into the road), you are liable because you are duty-bound to exercise caution, allowing enough stopping room between your car and the car in front to allow for unexpected stops.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in this instance, the car(s) ahead of him were already stopped thereby negating Mr. Miller's allegations of no-fault. He has a duty. He failed in that duty; therefore, he is strictly liable.
The trooper was correct in issuing a citation of fault to Mr. Miller based on the facts presented. The tropper may also have been correct to cite the other driver if evidence indicates the rear-end of his car was sitting into another lane.
It's always tough to know where you read-end is insofar as a turn lane is concerned, but we know where Mr. Miller's rear-end was --- providing cover for his head.
You don't have to be a lawyer to know that when you hit someone from behind, you're going to be found to be at fault 99.99% of the time. You just have to have common sense. Oh, wait....
ReplyDeleteSounds like he likes to play the "victim" card, also.
ReplyDeleteJoe the Dumber
ReplyDeleteJust askin'...
ReplyDeleteDoes this Joe Miller come across as a fellow who hasn't an empathetic bone in his body? We had a my-way-or-the-highway, you're-either-with-me-or-agin-me hardhead in the Oval Office for the first two terms of this new century already... and that experience should've taught us what type NOT to elect, don't you think?
The same scenario happened to me when I was in college. I was driving to my apartment, and stopped behind another car, who was waiting for the person in front of them to make a left turn. The sun was setting, and the glare was intense. The person travelling behind me was momentarily blinded by the sunlight, and did not see how close he was to me. He ended up rear ending my car, and pushing me into the car directly in front of me. As the EMS was getting me out from the front seat, I babbled on about how I have NO luck with cars. Even though I admitted to having terrible luck with cars, the man behind me was found at fault and was required to fix my car. I had a slight case of whiplash, but nothing too serious. So, yeah. Miller is most definitely responsible and he should set an example and take responsibility and rectify any damage. But the chances of that happening (from what I hear) are equivalent to Mt. Everest falling into the ocean tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteDon't you know the car he hit was intentionally stopped there because the driver is a paid Democratic party operative?
ReplyDeleteAmazing. The News Miner trots out Joe's military service when reporting on a traffic accident. Any clue why? Also, if you look in the Alaska courts name index, Joe seems to have a problem with speeding. Why didn't the MIner report that? It might have been more relevant to the issue at hand. These tickets show he was going between 15 and 20 miles over the speed limit. What an outrageous bully. And, I am pissed he has 8 kids, I would have loved to have more than 2 but you know what? The planet just can't take anymore.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has been in the auto claims end of the insurance business for over 30 years and who has way too much familiarity with how USAA handles their claims....let me say that the higher you are on the food chain of the military service, the more they kowtow to their insureds. So Miller went to West Point, what rank did he end up as? I've been told by USAA claim reps that their insured was a Colonel (or higher) and because of that they were going to deny the claim....even when their guy was absolutely, clearly and unmistakably at fault for the accident. Our insureds would have to file lawsuits so they could get their damages covered by that company. I guess it was better for USAA to pay to defend their precious high ranker and lose in court....they could then tell him that it was the jury's decision and not theirs.....they stuck up for him all the way!
ReplyDeleteI suspect the cops intended to give him a pass on this until people started writing about it. Anyone with 2 brain cells KNOWS if you re-end someone you're at fault. Period. But he seemed to think he is above the law and like Scarah is used to getting by with things others could only dream of. I'm glad they were forced to ticket him. Now if only we could prove he was texting or twittering at the time of impact.
ReplyDeleteEssentially if a car falls from the sky and lands in front of you and you hit it you are liable. Even if the police decided to not give you a citation according to the rules of the insurance companies you are faulted for the accident. The person behind is supposed to drive in such a manner that they are in control of their car enough to stop or avoid an accident. But, everyone knows that the way many roads are designed and the high traffic conditions in some areas make this impossible. Auto accidents happen to everyone and sometimes it isn't the fault of the person behind. Because we have corporations running everything we have a system where someone has to be found at fault to get the damage of the accident paid for. That said, it is strange that an attorney is arguing as if he does not know how the system works. He could say there were mitigating circumstances that contributed to the accident(if that other drive was sticking out into the road) which may decrease his fine in court. I was once in a three car accident and the last one in line. We had all just left an intersection at a stop light and fortunately driving slow. I was still in the intersection when a woman in front made an abrupt lane change in front of the two cars in front of me and came to a dead stop. We were still pretty close together and my truck slid on the slippery road hitting the back of the van in front of me. The cops cited me for driving too fast for the conditons. I went to court and argued that that was impossible given where I was and how close together the vehicles were. The judge changed the citation to following too closely, which I agreed was more in line with what my part was in what had occured. He told me he did not feel the accident was actually my fault and that if they could find that woman who had abruptly pulled in front of the line of traffic and stopped she would be charged with wreckless driving, but the rules made it impossible to not cite me for something as I was in the back.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/us/politics/06miller.html?_r=1
ReplyDeleteI think this is pretty typical of what an attorney would say or would advise you at the scene of an accident is don't admit fault, let the authorities assign fault, especially in an auto collision when you don't know if someone is injured. What is a concern is if Miller as an attorney didn't know in his heart that in a rear end collision, the guy who hits first is usually always at fault.
ReplyDeleteTypical reaction for the Party of Personel Responsibility.
ReplyDeleteIt's never my fault.