P.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Accident Defendant was driving her minivan in Mountain View at about 7:00 p.m. in December 2004. A witness, Dean Larwood, saw the van back out of a driveway and miss a parked car by inches. He followed the van and saw it ―weaving back and forth and just obviously out of control.‖ After a couple of minutes, he called 911 to report what he believed to be a drunk driver. He followed the van onto the freeway, and continued talking to 911, because the van was ―obviously . . . an incredible danger.‖ The van drifted right and left constantly, and its speed on the freeway varied from about 40 miles an hour to about 75 miles an hour. The van often drifted on to the shoulder or into the

1 next lane, and narrowly avoided accidents several dozen times. At almost every exit, defendant would use her turn signal as if she were going to exit and would begin to exit, but would return to the freeway at the last moment, crossing the double yellow lines each time. After 20 or 25 miles, the van hit a car parked on the shoulder, tipping it onto its side. It hit the car directly from behind, travelling at a speed of 50 to 60 miles an hour, and did not brake before the impact.…