Los Banos, Calif. (KTXL/CNN Newsource) – Authorities are investigating whether an 18-year-old woman live-streamed herself driving drunk in California.
That woman was later involved in an accident that killed her 14-year-old sister.
The video is so disturbing, it’s reportedly been pulled from social media sites, but it still managed to be shown widely across the internet.
It shows a young woman broadcasting herself live on Instagram as she drives down the road and raps along with the music.
At times it looks like both of her hands are off the wheel as the driver adjusts the phone to show different angles, including a girl in the backseat and the road she’s driving down.
But after she moves to show the sign she’s making with her hand, the vehicle appears to crash.
CHP Los Banos investigators aren’t confirming this video is linked to Friday’s fatal crash on Henry Miller Road in Los Banos, but they say they are investigating the possibility.
They do confirm at about 6:40 Friday evening, 18-year-old Obdulia Sanchez from Stockton was with her 14-year-old sister, Jacqueline Sanchez, and another 14-year-old when she started to leave the roadway, over-corrected and crashed.
Neither of the 14-year-olds was wearing a seatbelt.
Both were ejected and Jacqueline Sanchez died at the scene.
Obdulia is charged with DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Again, authorities have not confirmed the video is linked to the fatal crash, though it is linked to some of the social media accounts of a person of the same name as the suspect.
Sanchez is also not charged with using her phone while driving.
Still, the video remains as a stark reminder of the dangers of not just driving intoxicated, but distracted driving.
CHP Stockton is not investigating the Los Banos crash, but they have an ongoing campaign against DUI and distracted driving, in part because reckless and distracted driving is the leading cause of death for teens.
One officer said, “I think when people have been drinking and they’re under the influence of alcohol or drugs or a combination of the two, they may do things they won’t normally do, like maybe getting on that phone when they know better.”
The other 14-year-old passenger in the vehicle suffered what authorities call “severe trauma” to one of her legs in the crash.
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