A Florida woman, whose actions police say led to a box truck flipping over an Interstate 95 bridge wall and into the Middle Patuxent River, was convicted yesterday in Howard County District Court of stepping into the roadway and other traffic offenses.
Dorek C. Miles, 26, testified at trial yesterday that he was driving a box truck north on Interstate 95 near Savage on a January morning when he saw a woman step into his lane about 80 feet in front of him.
He tried to swerve slightly to the left to avoid hitting the woman, but his truck was rear-ended and he lost control, he testified.
The truck hit the wall of the bridge over the Middle Patuxent, flipped over it and fell 70 feet, landing upside down in the narrow river, according to police. Miles, who was wearing his seat belt, broke both legs and dislocated his left hip.
The woman -- Nada Rakovich of Dunedin, Fla. -- was convicted by District Judge Neil Edward Axel and ordered to pay $326 in fines and court costs.
Rakovich, 50, who had been driving a tractor-trailer, was also convicted of making an unsafe lane change and was given probation before judgment on a charge of driving with a suspended out-of-state license.
