"while backing out of a handicapped space in a church parking lot"

"backing out of a space in the parking lot of a 55-and-older mobile home community"

I suppose we are to conclude the church is in a mobile home community.

And if not for "lost control of her SUV", that sentence started to suggest she was hauling a mobile home.

And then this:

"she appeared to think she put her Chevrolet SUV in drive but instead shifted into reverse"

Okay, she thought that, or she "appeared to think" that? One would guess the "appearance" of her thoughts was due to something she said, which would make it a lot cleaner to say "according to witnesses, she said she believed....", or even just "she believed" unless we want to leave open the possibility that she was lying and instead was possessed of a murderous intent.

Why doesn't the news business have people who can write?

We have examples of that type of "journalism" in SW Pennsylvania under the Tribune Media (Richard Mellon Scaife right wing-run media)

Would it really matter to the dead and injured if a sober 45 year old had run them over?

this type of thing has happened before with elderly drivers.

My dad kept getting his license renewed even though no on in their right mind would get in a car with him.

It's a problem.

If you are concerned about your father and can't confront him directly, please see if the state where he's licensed has a reporting option.

That said, many senior drivers are as good if not better drivers than teens and young adults because they're more cautious, not trying to multi-task, and self limit their driving because they're aware that age has changed their abilities. In spite of that, there's a knee jerk reaction that age must be reason for an accident like this when it's an 80 year old, but we look for other reasons when the driver is say 20 or 40. Bad drivers happen at all ages.

IIRC, Florida doesn't even require a vision test until age 80. The elderly lobby shields old people in Florida. While it may be true that bad drivers happen at all ages, it's also true that bad drivers are more prevalent among young and elderly drivers. I know pilots that are still flying airplanes past 80, but they have to take a physical and a flight test every other year.

The reason why people look at age when an elderly driver kills someone is because they are more likely to kill someone because of their age. There's all kinds of statistics which verify this.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/olddrive/olderdriversbook/pages/Chapter1.html

where we assume that the fault is their age. Maybe YOUNG drivers should be tested every year too until age 25 or so too.
We also have too much of the country with car-centric communities, so having no driver in the household is a handicap.

The next generation of cars may be smarter about collision avoidance and that would help everyone.

It seems to be common knowledge that drivers under 25 pay higher insurance rates and I don't know of anyone who scratches their head and wonders why.

Older drivers have accidents because of a lack of ability. Young drivers have accidents because they are careless and lack experience, not because a lack of ability. Testing younger drivers would be a waste of time and resources.

Younger drivers lack experience and are more likely to engage in dangerous behaviors like speeding and distracted driving--- that's why the rates are higher for them as a group. Testing them every year on laws would be one way to ram home the message that these behaviors are a)against the law and b)dangerous. Requiring new road tests after a teen has been in an accident would also make sense.

Of course, the better approach from a public health perspective would be to do away with drivers' licensing of high school students (allow learner's permits but not solo driving) because the most dangerous set are the 15-20, but that's one of those knee jerk reactions that doesn't happen when it's young drivers.


Older drivers tend to drive less, drive shorter distances, and tend to stay off limited access roads. All of those self-limiting behaviors reduce their risk of death and the risk of injury to others. I'm guessing that's why insurers don't charge them higher rates than teens.
And yet, when a senior is involved in a horrendous accident, that knee jerk reaction to take away all of their licenses comes up.

I'm all for periodic reeducation of drivers (more often for younger ones). I'm all for raising the minimum driving age. But I don't see how treating younger drivers exactly the same as elderly drivers helps anything. The reasons why they get into crashes are different. I think all drivers should be periodically evaluated, but the older you get the more often this should be done. I don't think there should be a maximum driving age.

I'm all for testing higher risk populations more frequently. I also believe that the minimum age for full driving privileges should be higher.
And finally, I'm also in favor of allowing good drivers at any age to retain that privilege.

Note that I wasn't advocating treating young and older drivers the same. Young drivers need more reminders of laws and good driving practices. Older drivers need screening to test whether they still have the physical and cognitive ability to drive safety.

I think the basic problem in this country is we treat driving as if it's a right rather than a privilege. That's why you have people in this country with 5 or more DUI convictions that still have their license.

whenever a young driver is involved in an accident, I always assume it's because of his/her age.

Taking too many chances. Not paying attention. Thinking they can multi-task while driving. A youth-driven belief that they are invincible and immortal.


Young drivers scare the hell out of me.


PS...I look forward to a new breed of cars that can help drivers avoid accidents also

With kids growing ever closer to that age I am fully on board with that technology.

Right in his backyard! He was right there!1!

On a more serious note, seems to me someone needs their driving privileges revoked. And serious compensation to those who lost family members.

Julie

My mother realized on her own that she couldn't handle I-95 anymore. Reflexes are not the same when we age.

It seems that it has become quite common to hear stories of accidents caused by elderly people who think that they put the car in one gear instead of another.

I had an incident with an elderly lady coming back to NJ from spending Thanksgiving weekend in PA. I was on East I-78 and had already entered NJ, when through the dark I see in the distance an object crossing the road in front of my car. I was in the middle lane and someone had made a LEFT HAND TURN from the right lane trying to go to the left lane. I started breaking like crazy and veering right. I still couldn't avoid hitting the car altogether. I hit her rear fender and bumper. The car bounced, the driver straightened the car and kept going on the left lane like nothing had happened. When I started chasing the car, I could see that the driver was an elderly woman. I got most of the numbers of her plate, but my car was making a lot of noise. So I pulled over and called 911. By then I had gotten out of the car and seen that it was still drivable. The state troopers checked it too and told me to go ahead, but with caution. I told them that the woman should not be on the road. They told me that there were plenty of others who shouldn't be on the road either, they had seen it all. Short end of the story, because I don't have full coverage, I ended having to pay $1,000 in repairs. That woman was very lucky that night because if I hadn't seen her in the distance, I would have hit her full on and could have killed her.

Elderly people need to realize when the time comes to need to hand in the keys. Some of them are a danger to themselves and others.

it's a huge matter of pride...when everything else has been taken from them by age (hearing, mobility, etc) they try to hold on to the one thing that, to them, means they're still independent.

And then some of them don't even want to admit there's anything wrong with their driving. Mr Pipi is 75 and honestly, sometimes his driving scares the shit out of me. He refuses to admit there's anything at all disturbing about it. Well hell...even I will admit that my own driving often scares me.

Anyway, talk about some elderly people who shouldn't even be driving...last year a waitress at a little place we go to on Sundays started talking about going to FL to see her mom, who is 86. She and her mom and another sister were going to drive to the Keys and they were all going to take turns. Mr Pipi said that he wasn't sure he would feel comfortable riding in a car being driven by someone 86 years old.

That prompted one of the strangest justifications for trusting an elderly driver I've ever heard.

The waitress said, "Well, my mom has only raised 9 kids, so she doesn't know what she's doing, right???"

Oops. Can't go around insulting Saint Mom!!

If I hadn't been blindsided by this bit of snark, I might have replied that my own mom was 79 but had only raised 5 kids, so maybe she should turn in her driver's license...

Obviously, the more kids one has raised, the longer one should be trusted behind the wheel of a car...



People think of the stupidest reasons for being allowed to endanger themselves and (more importantly) other innocent people.

particularly in places where transportation is not abundant. Driving means freedom, but all things come to an end and some of these people need to realize that it's time to give it up. I had more than one close call in FL thanks to elderly drivers. From being clipped to ending up on the sidewalk because someone didn't realize how close they were before they changed lanes. They are a danger to themselves, and worse yet, to other people.

Remember the 86 year old man in CA who ran over and killed 10 people at a farmers' market?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-jail-for-elderly-driver-in-market-crash/

I remember that one.


One thing I'm glad to see in a local community (mid-sized city) is the construction of elderly complexes close to stores, churches, and there's a hospital within a mile, and there are buses just for the elderly.

(that's my generation), I wonder if they will advocate for more public transportation or if they'll be even worse about continuing to drive long after they should? I think this country should start thinking about this right now so they can have this in place by the time we start hitting 75-80+. I live in a community that is mostly seniors of various ages and some of the driving skills just in our community make me worried. I also have to drive by a senior recreation center on my way to work and if I get behind someone heading there, it's a nightmare. They go 30 mph in a 50 mph zone. Don't know why they can't go to the rec center after morning rush hour.

I've said this many times - if the younger generations are smart, they will make money off of things that we older baby boomers are going to require and/or demand.

Many of these people (older drivers) only drive to church and should have given up their licenses years ago. We found out my granddad was still driving to church a year after he told us he had quit driving.

My Mother didn't like it, but we got her to stop driving before this happened. With my Mom a bad accident was GOING TO HAPPEN at some point too, of that we were certain.

made me sit as a passenger while he drove 240 miles to his heart surgery that killed him. He drove pretty good but I was worried and ready to grab the wheel to make a save if I had to.

He just had all this pride about driving. I suspect a lot of elderly do, and love their independence.

I am confused by the narrative -- she was "backing out," which would mean reverse, but "thought" she put the car in drive? And hit the gas with enough force to run over SEVEN and kill three, crash over a curb and into a creek?