As she rode her motorcycle in the Lake Zurich area Saturday afternoon, Anita Zaffke stopped for a yellow light.
The motorist behind her didn’t, police said, because she was painting her fingernails.
Zaffke, 56, of Lake Zurich, suffered fatal injuries when she was struck by a car about 5:30 p.m., Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said.
The accident happened on the southbound side of Rand Road after Zaffke stopped her 2007 Honda Shadow for the light at Old McHenry Road, Lake County sheriff’s police said.
Lora L. Hunt, 48, of Morris, also was headed south and crashed into Zaffke, police said.
Hunt told police she was painting her nails as she drove and didn’t see Zaffke until after the crash, police reports indicate.
Lake County Sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Christopher Thompson confirmed Hunt was charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. Additional charges are possible.
Zaffke and her motorcycle were pushed forward a few hundred feet by the force of the crash, Keller said.
Hunt and other people stopped to help Zaffke, but she could not be saved. She was pronounced dead about 6:30 p.m. at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital near Barrington.
Zaffke had been wearing a helmet and likely died of chest and abdominal injuries, Keller said.
That’s horrible. And to make it worse, the stupid driver is getting the equivalent of a traffic ticket. She should at least get manslaughter or something more severe. Permanent loss of her license should be automatic for negligence like that.
What she needs is not jail time or loss of license, she needs to avoid that accident. Incarceration at would be a meaningless burden for tax payers. Although if she was ever to be caught speeding in a construction zone her fine should be cubed.
Every time I “sort of” get serious about buying a bike I see a story like this, or worse-yet something happens to one of my friends that rides. It’s just not worth the risk to ride on public streets.
And how is she not getting at least a negligent homicide charge? She was clearly negligent in her responsibilities as the operator of a motor vehicle, directly resulting in the death of another human being. If she was drunk she’d be going away for a LONG time. But she was “just” painting her nails, so it’s all okay!?! The result is the same, the punishment should be as well.
The thing is this happens everyday, but when it happens to someone on a bike the outcome is always far worse than someone in a car. It is the chance you take when yo decide to ride a bike.
I have had a few close calls with drivers on both my ZX-12 and The Vulcan.
Best advice I can give for new riders.
Don’t be afraid. When you are afraid that is when you start to double guess yourself. I’m not saying go out there and ride like you are at beaver run for lap days. I’m saying don’t automatically think “oh shit I’m on a bike” and worry about someone hitting you. Ride your ride, and position yourself away from cages.
It is very easy on any bike to pull away from idiots when just riding around. That also doesn’t mean that you have to cruise at triple digits all the time. Especially if you are new to riding.
Example, TJ I’m sure you are a good driver, and alert in your car. How many times have you had close calls with idiots? I’m sure more than you can count. If you become or already are an equally good rider your driving habits will carry over.
What if you were in a car in this motorcyclists situation? I’m sure if there was a car there, this lady was going to plow into it too because she said she didn’t see the red light. This motorcyclists was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Granted if she was in a car it would have protected her more, but who knows to what extent. Hell she could be a veggie instead of dead if she was in a car. Is there really any difference?
I just hate to see people be afraid of trying new things that they would probably really enjoy.
Hell I have gotten so involved with it that I average 10k+ miles on the bike a riding season and I started doing side work on them. I wish I lived somehwere the weather was warm all year. My truck would never move.
I know what you’re saying, and I have ridden a fair amount (though I am not as good of a rider as I am a driver). If I bought myself a bike I’d do a few track days/schools for sure, and make sure I was as well prepared to get myself out of sticky situations as possible.
And you’re right, who knows how bad it would have been for somebody in a car to get hit the same way (a lot of that depends on the vehicle). But you still have a lot better chance. I’ve lost friends that would NOT have died in the same situation in a car.
One of the very, very best riders I’ve known lost the lower 1/2 of his right leg on a bike. There was simply nothing he could do to evade the situation, and it was not his fault.
Walking out of your front door every day is a gamble, no matter if you’re driving to work, jumping in a plane, hopping on your bike, or just going for a job. But everything has different levels of risk. Especially here in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley the “other drivers” are just SO bad the risk on a bike is very high and very real. I don’t feel the need to subject myself to that.
any cell phone use for that matter… i only have to drive 15 miles to and from work and daily i come across assholes not paying attention on the phone. Fuck people like that.
Why the hell does a 48yr old need to be painting her nails while she is driving. Fuck. I agree with the statement riding isn’t scary its all the other assholes you have to lookout for. Same goes for driving a car now a days.