News & Activities

Vermont Supreme Court Reinstates Charge In Distracted Driver Case

CONTACT: David Tartter, Assistant Attorney General, (802) 828-5512

August 23, 2010

Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that the Vermont Supreme Court has reversed the dismissal of a charge of grossly negligent operation of a vehicle against Cherish Carlin, a 20 year old Massachusetts woman. Ms. Carlin was charged after she allegedly struck a 71 year old bicyclist with her vehicle on Route 5 in Dummerston, Vermont on April 18, 2009. Ms. Carlin allegedly told a police officer after the accident that she had been looking for a place to eat and had looked down at her GPS device immediately before striking the bicyclist.

The trial court dismissed the charge late last year, stating that momentary inattention could not rise to the level of grossly negligent operation. The Vermont Supreme Court disagreed, holding that a motorist’s decision to take her eyes off the road at a time when the risk of danger was heightened because of the presence of a bicyclist could be found by a jury to be grossly negligent.

The case will now be remanded to the Vermont Superior Court, Criminal Division, Windham Unit, for trial.