Bad drivers & 2 wrecks witnessed

[Stig / Major Tom]

When I was out for coffee and fall photo ops the other morning I witnessed two accidents.

First one was next to me on the sidewalk in town. An elderly male, who had no business behind the wheel, backed his Crown Vic into a parked car. He was trying to parallel park, except a lady was already parked there. When he couldn't figure out why his car stopped (against her L front headlight) - he floored it, driving her car up onto the sidewalk, and flinging a 6 yr old boy down the sidewalk. He was stepping out of the right rear door - and the door flung him down the walk as his mother's car was shoved violently backwards.

The boy was OK (heavy jacket with his hood up ...sort of ATGATT'd)....and the old guy left the scene while we were looking after the child & mother. Ahh, but a pedestrian cell phone video'd him before he left.


15 mins later as I was leaving town on a country road at 40mph.
 A 35 yr old female in an Accord flew past me in a no-passing zone....
Seconds later I crested a low hill to see a Jeep, missing its front end, sideways in the 2-way stop intersection.

The Accord was on the far side of the Jeep, sideways in a ditch and a farm fence.

No injuries. (I did my Army medic thing and checked her - and gave her a look that injured, I hope) Two totaled autos. She nailed the Jeep as it was turning. Took his nose off - wiped out her passenger side metal.
I stayed around long enough to let the village policeman know my information - about her speed and lane behavior.
But it will likely go down as the Jeep's fault for not yielding to the Honda projectile.


Stig

[GLV55]

Wow, that's a bad day! Just grateful you weren't involved in either accident.

I'm getting older, too, so I get it, but past a certain age (let someone else figure that one out) people should have to take a driving test every year in order to renew their license. My mother-in-law was "dating" another elderly gentleman at her assisted living, and he was driving her to the store, etc. Well, a month later we found out that he had lost his license a year earlier, and COULD NOT FEEL HIS FEET!! He didn't know which pedal he was stepping on and couldn't feel how much pressure he was putting on the pedals, either. His family KNEW he was driving and didn't care, they just let him do it because it was "too much trouble" to confront him and take his keys away. We moved her to another facility, then heard that about 6 months later this guy had run into the side of a building because he thought he was stepping on the brake pedal. 

Time to change the laws!!
Be safe out there!

[CROSSBOLT]

Like GLV55 said whotta day! You definitely were assigned a mission that day! GLV55, Iknow your heart was in the right place but more laws?

[GLV55]

Like GLV55 said whotta day! You definitely were assigned a mission that day! GLV55, Iknow your heart was in the right place but more laws?

Good point, CB. I've just seen so many accidents involving the elderly, including my mother-in-law, that there needs to be a cut-off somewhere. Maybe there needs to be a big effort to educate the children of those seniors about when to take away the keys and how to approach the subject, maybe some kind of a counselor to facilitate the process.

[Stig / Major Tom]

With this country's lousy public transport system - it would be hard to pass new regulations to remove anyone from behind the wheel..
My wife works in a Dr's office and reports that stopping the incompetent elderly from driving is an explosive issue!

Plus - many people in my town are driving with suspended licenses, already. Driving offenses and DUI's are treated like library fines in Ohio.
Stig

[hypophthalmus]

We already prohibit driving for medical reasons. If the list of restrictions and medical problems needs to be expanded, that's one thing. But there's no need to bring age into it.

[hypophthalmus]

Actually, GLV55, I just reread you story. His license was already suspended, so requiring regular testing wouldn't have even helped anything.

[CROSSBOLT]

"It's a family affair....!"

[boo]

this past week.
Bad drivers in our area are making me afraid to leave the house.

[Stig / Major Tom]

this past week.
Bad drivers in our area are making me afraid to leave the house.

Ride real early boo…..
If they can't see you - they can't hit you!

Stig

[boo]

Ride real early boo…..
If they can't see you - they can't hit you!

Stig

Both times we were in our vehicles, not on a scooter. First instance, I was parked at a mini mart. A guy pulls in beside me so fast his van was rocking back and forth when he jumped out. I had to maneuver back and forth to get out of the parking spot because he was so close to me. We almost traded paint. I was in my PU truck.
The second instance happened a few days later. Me and the wife were in her Subaru Forester. A man made an illegal left turn in front of me. We had a green light. I had to swerve real hard to the right and then real hard to the left to avoid a collision. The wife and I are still wondering how we got through that. It was close and scary. We were doing 45-50 on a nice four lane highway.
My advice to scooter riders is: Be super careful. Drivers are angry, rude, distracted, doped, and simply do not know how to drive.