Very sad Tragedy

[SureShot]

Go here and have a look

[ http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/17/farmers.market.crash/index.html ]

It's about the man who ran through the farmers market and killed 9 people and left like 14 critically injured. It's very sad. I hate to say it because there are many good older drivers, but this man should not have had his license, he was just too old and not aware enough to be driving a motor vehicle.

[kirupa]

Yeah :( I was watching the news yesterday afternoon, and they showed live coverage of the scene shortly after it happened. That place was quite a mess.

[Alex]

i heared about this yesterday afternoon. Very sad story:(

[Soul]

Oh my god, thats a lot of victims for an accident! :(

- Soul :s:

[Niann]

Very sad that this happened, even more so because it could have been prevented... :(

Cheers!
-Niann

[reverendflash]

86 yr old man who had hit his own garage twice in the last month...

I think we should have to take a driving test every 2 years after the age of 62...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[Soul]

Agreed

[Jubba]

every other week Rev... 2 years is not often enough...

I plan on turning in my license the moment that I realize that I am unfit to drive.

:)

[reverendflash]

prob is... this guy thinks he is still okay to drive... Don't mention to him that he got his license during prohibition...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[DigitalPimp]

See that freaked me out because I was just there ON THAT STREET this last Saturday!!! Like, I was walking up and down the street where he did all that. Freaky huh?

[Soul]

Really?! :-\

[RelandR]

Originally posted by SureShot
Go here and have a look

[ http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/17/farmers.market.crash/index.html ]

It's about the man who ran through the farmers market and killed 9 people and left like 14 critically injured. It's very sad. I hate to say it because there are many good older drivers, but this man should not have had his license, he was just too old and not aware enough to be driving a motor vehicle.

Yes - very sad for the victoms and the old guy ....

I agree that he was too old. I sure hope they don't nail him to the cross for show but rather learn an invaluable lesson.

The last few years of my Dad's life he scared the hell out of me everytime he got behind the wheel, He couldn't look left or right without turning his body from the waist and obviously had no real grip of the wheel ... DMV never retested him to be sure he was still able to drive. The fact that he wasn't in an accident was a pure miracle.

My step Dad is not much younger than this poor old guy. He's lost the sight in one eye yet he has been driving for 60+ yrs and figures he's doing just fine. You should see the lawn next to his driveway.:sure: ... DMV has no clue. He scares the hell out of me.

[reverendflash]

I was in Reno, back in the 80's, when Pracilla Jones decided to drive down the main street, full of people, on Thanksgiving day...

She killed over 20, if I remember correctly, and all on purpose...

now Reno's main drive is no longer open to auto traffic (as is Las Vegas')...

Duanehttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[Soul]

Duane!?

[SureShot]

It's terrible and I totally agree that they should have to go through some kind of testing every couple of years - it's only fair.

I mean there are plenty of older people who can drive just fine, my grandpa is one of them. I drive with on occassion and he has yet to scare me and he's almost 70.

[reverendflash]

I have my thermos!

Duanehttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[DariusMonsef]

Well we have state decided ages for being able to get a drivers license. For example let's say it's 16. Somehow they found that kids 16 and older are responsible enough and coordinated enough to be in control of a vehicle.

I'm sure there are 13 year olds who are capable of driving, but 16 is the age they decided on being the average.

They should do the same thing for an age you no longer can drive. I don't know if it would be 60,70 or 80. But they 100% should have one. It's a known fact that as people age their mental capacity depreciates, so why is there no age restriction for being too old?

Hearing what happened the other day angers me. Not so much at the man that killed those people but at the system in which we have that let him do it.

[Soul]

You rock Duane :love:

http://www.angelfire.com/or/SmeeeeHeeeee/images/emoduane.gif

[reverendflash]

thanks soul!

:love:

Duane's my hero...

corn plasters and all!

Duanehttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[RelandR]

here-here on the *at the system* part ...

the 'system' is far too negligent as to who they let drive all across the board in general but they totally forget about the effects of senility&aging

stepping on the gas 'thinking' they are stomping on the brake is a common error amongst older people, I can remember numerous accounts of this happening before only never with such horrific results.

Test at both ends of the scale

[reverendflash]

I also think that people under the age of 25 should have to take a driving test every 2 years as well...

I saw a stat once that showed that 70% of all accidents are caused by people under 25, and over 60...

could be a bad stat, but it makes my point...

Duanehttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[DariusMonsef]

Ok, I hate to hear these words come out of my mouth because I very much disaprove of the idea that the media and television effect young peoples minds, but have you seen any car commercial in the past year or so?

It's got high engine revving sounds mixed with flashes of red lines RPM guages. That along with Fast and the Furious I'm not suprised we have so many young people in accidents. We pretty much just made racing cars and being reckless an in trend.

I don't think the under 25 accidents are caused by not knowing what pedal to press. More along the lines of not having the mental maturity to treat an automobile as a weapon.

[reverendflash]

how true...

but still, if the average 18 yr old had to take a driving test today, I'd be willing to bet that over half wouldn't pass...

;)

Duanehttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[thoriphes]

They should definitely start getting stricter on older people driving. This guy hit the gas cause he thought it was the brake! I say take their license at a certain age. They get senior discounts for public transportation anyway.

[reverendflash]

I say let's make an example...

charge him with 9 counts of vehicular manslaughter, and 40 counts of attempted MS... put him in house arrest, and make him pay a ton of fines, etc.

If he were 40 and drunk, that is what we would do...

why is being old, less of a bad thing when driving, than not wearing a seat belt?

Duanehttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[Niann]

Originally posted by EthanM
Ok, I hate to hear these words come out of my mouth because I very much disaprove of the idea that the media and television effect young peoples minds, but have you seen any car commercial in the past year or so?

It's got high engine revving sounds mixed with flashes of red lines RPM guages. That along with Fast and the Furious I'm not suprised we have so many young people in accidents. We pretty much just made racing cars and being reckless an in trend.

I don't think the under 25 accidents are caused by not knowing what pedal to press. More along the lines of not having the mental maturity to treat an automobile as a weapon.

I think you hit the nail on the head here... I was going to see another film the night 2 Fast 2 Furious opened. I was utterly in shock when I pulled into the parking lot. A horde of 16-22(ish) boys, in the little import go fast cars, drag racing, burning out, and whatever else they could do to look cool. Now, this happens every Friday and Saturday night up the street from my home. They gather at the Taco Bell (fast food place) and park open their hoods, rev the motors, etc... The big difference I saw at the movies was it was wall to wall people, even in the parking lot. Little kids walking with their parents, brothers, sisters, whatever. I almost got run over twice walking from my car to the waiting area. There were a couple cops there, but they had a hard time maintaining control. It was scary.

Now I am a sprots car person, I enjoy racing, and watching the races live and on TV. I do have an import "go fast" car myself, however I race in legal races. SCCA races, where the only thing you can runover are little orange cones. ;) I could never see driving like these kids on a public road, its rather silly, and dangerous, and Ethan is right the advertising and media promote this type of driving for young people.

Cheers!
-Niann