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Police: Driver charged with killing child in Revere was operating on little sleep after consuming variety of substances

Autumn Harris, 42, of Beacon Hill, was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail at her arraignment today on charges of motor vehicle homicide and negligent operation of a motor vehicle for the Sunday crash in Revere that killed 5-year-old Adrianna Mejia-Rivera and put her two-month-old sister and four other people in the hospital, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

According to the DA's office, following the crash:

State Police investigators transported Harris to the Revere barracks, where she gave a recorded, post-Miranda statement. She allegedly stated that she had consumed one beer earlier in the afternoon, that she had taken prescription and over-the-counter medication to help her sleep the night before, and that she had only slept two hours before working all day yesterday. She allegedly stated the she had vaped CBD oil in the vehicle and that she might have nodded off at the wheel.

Harris was unable to take a breath test. Investigators obtained a search warrant for a blood sample and her cell phone to help determine whether she was impaired or distracted at the time of the collision.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

Head on a swivel friends. Pleople like this are on our roads every day throughout the state. OTC pills + prescription pills + alcohol + CBD oil + driving = disaster.

That poor family didn't stand a chance. Sad.

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How could they have possibly avoided this?

It is NOT the responsibility of people on the roads to just "look out carefully" for people who should not be driving!

REPEAT: BAD DRIVERS KILL PEOPLE

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I read that so differently.

Head on a swivel friends.

I thought was aimed at everyone, especially drivers.

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With origins in hockey. It's assumed that people driving should be watching where they are driving while a mom with 2 babies in tow doesn't have much of a chance avoiding a truck moving at full speed. Spiderman would have had trouble doing that.

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I don't know the etymology of it, not certain that it's hockey, but that is neither here nor there.

My head is on a swivel when I am driving because there are often peds waiting for the chance to cross the street; bicyclists that I'm sharing the road with; kids playing near roads. It's all part of me watching where I am driving and making certain I am as aware as I can be of my fellow humans. I have to be aware of others on the road when I am turning, switching lanes (is there someone in a blind spot?), crossing an intersection, coming upon stopped vehicles.

Your head isn't only facing forward when driving and if yours is, you're doing it wrong. Now, do we have tools to help us so we don't have to head-swivel so much so we can focus primarily on the direction we are going? You bet, arrange your mirrors so you can reduce the blind spots as much as possible. But I sure as shit don't rely solely on my mirrors when changing lanes and/or opening my door into a potential bicycle situation. I turn my head. And I'll be willing to bet you do, too.

Now, back to the etymology part, I found one writeup that indicates "it was popular with Air Force Pilots in WWII and has been cited in print since at least 1943."

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Most of us don't think it a revelation to look from side to side as we drive. (I even check my mirrors!) In the case of the driver I don't think it applies as she was unconscious. Don't know how the original poster was imploring her to keep her head up.

I appreciate you digging on the origins of the phrase, and believe the Air Force story given: good job. Common usage is that you need to keep your head on the swivel to look for incoming trouble, and if you don't then you are partly at fault. Peace.

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Most of us don't think it a revelation to look from side to side as we drive.

I agree with you. Although to read the anti-car/driver screeds here, those posters seem to think it is.

Don't know how the original poster was imploring her to keep her head up.

I was reading that original request as aimed at other drivers, not the dipshit who killed people.

Peace.

Back at'cha.

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Deeep breaths with help with your anger.

I never stated (nor implied) it was the fault of the Family. Just the opposite in fact.

My point is that we all need to be aware that drugged up losers are everywhere, and we can't ever take our safety for granted. Sadly, not even in a median waiting to cross the friggin street when drunks/drug addicts are behind the wheel.

Police can't be everywhere, and the courts do nothing.

Be safe everyone - and God bless this poor Family.

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Agreed. Whether I'm driving, walking or riding my bike I am defensive minded. I expect a car to cross the median and plow into me. I expect a car to careen out of control and hit me on the sidewalk. Why? Because I've has the first happen and have seen the second first hand. I am always always aware of drivers because no one is paying attention to the road, be it drugs, electronics, radio, it's just insanity on the roads. My head is on a swivel to protect myself.

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The reader comments on the original UH report of the crash have given me cancer. Can we please not do that on this post.

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Remember that last part.

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When these kinds of things happen it's always sad, but especially so when children are involved. And there's no good time for things like this to happen, but around the holidays and new year really sucks. Prayers and condolences to the victims and their families.

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Such a cavalcade of really bad choices that led her to kill people with her car.

Please think before you ... drink ... smoke ... drive! Everyone's driving skills are shittier than we think they are.

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Think before you take prescription and/or OTC drugs as well. Cars certainly qualify as heavy machinery.

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Her mother said that she was using Flexeril, which carries a standard warning not to use it while driving and not to mix it with alcohol or other sedative drugs!

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I know, anecdotal, but I've taken Flexeril for muscle pain. It works really well at making you incapacitated. I got so sluggish it was a chore to make it to bed. Driving with it in your system? Crazy!

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Please don't pin your recklessness on CBD oil, the non-psychoactive extract of the cannabis plant.

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Just because it is non-psychoactive does not mean it is non-sedative ... even if it is debatable that CBD is the sedative in the mix.

CBD is known to interact with other drugs, and interact specifically with flexeril, because they both use the same pathways. Flexeril is a muscle relaxant.

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CBD is neither psychoactive nor sleep-inducing. In fact, there are multiple studies (animal and clinical) showing that it actually induces alertness. (A few studies have indicated CBD may improve the later, deeper stages of sleep, perhaps by reducing anxiety, which is why it is sometimes prescribed for insomnia).

I also am unaware of any research that shows that CBD and Cyclobenzaprine have significant interactions, or that they share major metabolic pathways. (Citations would be sincerely welcome, of course).

I have to admit to some concern that, in the official accounts, the only medical substance explicitly named was CBD. Especially now that I have read a claim (admittedly fourth-hand) of combos much more legitimately proscribed (read: basically alcohol + anything).

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Just because the label doesn't admit the existence of cannabis doesn't mean that there aren't interactions.

Any pharmo can tell you: same pathway means trouble. It could mean inhibition (makes it less effective) or synergy (more potent). But it generally means addition or interaction.

Her mother said something about "could have been flexeril" if you watch the outside the courtroom interview.

There are known interactions: https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/cannabis-with-flexeril-2758-0-75...

And, yes, the woman has alcohol issues, too. As someone said, this is a pileup of bad choices.

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Is not evidence of absence.

Cannabis research has been suppressed for decades.

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That's what she told the cops and she may not be a good source of info. She also said she only had 1 beer. She also refused the breathalyzer two other times in recent years. I would advise you not to take her side in this.

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When they arraign her on the second Homicide.

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Is not a punishment.

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A dangerousness hearing then

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Is this some sort of skill taught to scofflaws who persist in driving while intoxicated?

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