Woman charged in fatal 370z crash caught on dash cam
 

Harlingen police arrest 21-year-old after deadly crash caught on camera : News : ValleyCentral.com

A Harlingen woman was charged in the fatal crash caught on a dashboard camera, the Harlingen Police Department announced during a news conference on Wednesday.

Keila Nunez-Ortiz , 21, was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the death of a 40-year-old Harlingen woman.

A ‘dash cam’ video released by Advanced Pest Control showed a Nissan 370Z accelerating past vehicles on Harrison Avenue before crashing into another motorist.

Sylvia Mena, 40, was pronounced dead at a hospital in May following the collision on the 2000 block of East Harrison Avenue.

Nunez-Ortiz was behind the wheel of the Nissan, which crashed into a van leaving damage to property nearby, according to the Harlingen Police Department.

The 21-year-old was “traveling at a high-rate of speed, while using her cellular phone and the manner of her driving caused a collision,” the police department said in a news release.

Mena was attempting to cross from 21st Street when Nunez-Ortiz crashed into the van, police said.

Harlingen police officers, crime scene technicians, and members of the Highway Enforcement Unit processed the scene in May.

An “extensive investigation” was conducted, which led authorities to make the arrest, according to police.

“The Harlingen Police Department would like to express its deepest sympathy to Mena’s family,” police said in a news release.

Nunez-Ortiz’s bond was set at $250,000 on the manslaughter charge.

Giving Z drivers a bad name, get off the motherfucking phone and drive your car. Why is this concept so hard for people to understand, A life is now lost because a DB was on the phone instead of paying attention. Sympathy cannot bring that woman back to her loved ones.

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So tragic. Two lives ruined. It's just not worth it.

That really sucks. A reminder for me, and I hope for everyone, to be cautious when punching the gas pedal on the streets/traffic.

How is it the Z drivers fault if the van pulled out, correct? A bit unclear, but am I missing something.

Didn't bother to read the details huh.

Nope

Seriously? More than 30 mph over the speed limit on a city street weaving between cars? I really hope you don't drive like this.

Ok let me be clear, THE VIDEO IS BLURRY AS HELL!!! All I see is a car that seems to hit another vehicle that seems to pull out into traffic!!! Is that what I'm seeing???

And by the way, I'm 43 and have never had an at fault accident......... EVER!!!

Very sad... RIP to the mother of 3.

On the flip side, it always continues to amaze me how well the 370Z does in an accident

Sonic Blue IS-F > :tiphat:

Anyone in to make a fund for the woman's children? Show some support from the car community(?)

Why is it that people who can afford to buy cars are too cheap to get a hands free kit for their phones? People caught using cell phone's should be charged and receive the same fines/penalties as impaired drivers.

prayers for both families.

Hands free or not in my opinion you shouldn't be yakking on the phone while driving.

I'd be totally down if its setup.

Side note.

I'm fine with a little spirited driving on the tollway, maybe even an open highway. But a city street in the middle of the day? 30 miles over? Thats just asking for trouble. If you are going to speed atleast do it responsibly with other lives in consideration. I don't know if I could live with myself knowing my little lack of control took the life of another human being.

This idiot was driving reckless AND on her phone. Recipe for disaster :shakes head:

Prayers for the family of the victim.

Talking on your phone is just as distracting regardless of whether it is hands-free. Put down the phone or the food or the ipod and FOCUS ON DRIVING while you drive.

Just another call to arms for more people to get manuals. Let's see some jackhole talk on the phone while trying to shift a tricky clutch as is on these cars.

Just because you have money to get a performance car like this, doesn't give you precedence over others to disregard safety and common ****ing sense!!!

What a stupid bitch.

Wow... scares me to know there are many more drivers like this everywhere

& just this morning a car ran a red light making a left turn and cut me off entirely...

Prayers to both parties and family... I hope she gets what she deserves!

Amen...just last night coming home on I-77 during rush hour. All the sudden, the cars in front of me were swerving and changing lanes all over the place. Four lane interstate, with average traffic speed in the 70s. Turns out the commotion is everyone trying to go around this woman in a Honda Civic playing rolling chicane in the third lane (second to the left). She MIGHT have been going 40 MPH. Seriously.

Sure enough...as I go by I look over and she's just yapping away at her cell phone, looking straight ahead, totally oblivious to her surroundings. :mad:

what a dumb khunt... yeah i said it

Dood in cali... this is like normal everyday road user experience. insane.

Hate to say it, but this case is gonna flop!!! Any good lawyer will eat this case up cause the manslaughter charge won't stick with Gorilla Glue. Reckless driving or not, the victim pulled into on coming traffic unless there a stop sign that's not visible in the video. I don't know what the laws are in that state, but back home in Jersey where I've seen this about a dozen times, if you pull into oncoming traffic it's your fault regardless of the speed. One time a car hit an ambulance that blew through the intersection with it's lights flashing, but never slowed down and looked for oncoming traffic, needless to say it got T- Boned and flipped over. They charged the driver saying the ambulance always has the right of way. Went to trial and got thrown out based on witness testimony that ambulance never looked or slow for oncoming traffic. The driver in return sued the city and won a 6 figure payout. This is horrific either way and prayers to both family's, but am I wrong and if so please correct me.

The 370Z driver had the right of way regardless if she was going over the speed limit and using her cell phone. Suppose the 370Z driver died instead of the other woman, would that woman be charged with manslaughter for driving into oncoming traffic.

As terrible as the outcome and as guilty as the 370Z driver is for speeding and distracted driving, but I also had the same thought (from the video evidence, which is shot from too far to tell for sure)- the deceased attempted to cross a major road without taking all necessary precautions.

My thought may be unpopular and in no way am I shifting blame here, but that it what it appears like to me.

The story might not have presented all the evidence.

Meh...Easy come easy go.

:shakes head:

yah, im kinda wondering too how they came up with 30mph..?

sorry to both families. :(

:iagree:

:iagree:

Indeed, many prayers

Did it say what kind of injuries (if any) the Z driver had?

Do both of you honestly feel that if you were to drive 60 mph in a 25 mph zone and you hit a car coming out of cross street or a pedestrian crossing a street that you'd have no liability?

The police did not prosecute her earlier because even though they did have the video evidence of her speeding, they can't be exact and factual about her speed. This in itself may not be strong enough to convict the driver. However you combine this video evidence with the fact that she was on her cell phone, now the prosecuting attorney's office has a strong case against her.

I absolutely agree with you.
Without the video this case will fall into the right of way for the 370Z.
But the video clearly shows that the speed the Z was carrying did not allowed the other party crossing the intersection to realize how fast the Z driver was going.
Quite simple if the Z driver was travelling at the posted speed there will be no accident.
This is quite simple to understand, also the police will not prosecute without that evidence.
The Family of the deceased person has a very strong case, this is not your typical 50-50 case.

Of course there's liability, reckless driving and speeding and in which cannot be proven even with this video in regards to speeding unless they can magically compute speed from a dash cam video. 3rd or 4th degree Reckless or Involuntary Manslaughter is what they'll get at the most and she won't serve a day in prison especially at 21 and she has no priors, Just My Opinion.

You have zero understanding just in your first sentence alone. This was not a 25 mph zone, but a 35 mph zone. It was noted that she was speeding 30 mph over the speed limit, not by your math of 35 mph. Nonetheless, it's all speculation on how fast she was driving. Also, it's not against the law to drive and talk on your cell phone.

Who's to say that the other woman didn't completely stop at the stop sign and obey the right of way law. This is all an emotionally driven charge.

Probably judging by how fast she passed that car with the cam, basing it on how fast she got from front side of that car with cam to a specific identifiable marker.:icon14:

You fail to see that the other woman was almost finishing to crossing the intersection when the accident occurred, look at the video few times, the Z tried to swerve to the right to avoid the van.
Updated: Mother of three dies after major auto wreck in Harlingen : News : ValleyCentral.com