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Horrible incident in Santa Monica. At least 8 reported dead, many more injured.

It's pretty clear why older drivers don't want to give up their drivers licenses. It's psychological. It forces them to admit the loss of their physical abilities and a major change in their lifestyle. It must be hard on the ego. So they laugh off mistakes and hope they will get no worse. "Major accident? No, it would never happen to me." That's the thinking.

Often it is their children who must take action when they see it is time for them to stop driving. I think you can notify the DMV that you know a relative should no longer be driving. I'm not sure just how that system works.
 
The DMV just needs to get stricter. Back when I was renewing my license in March, I was behind a little old lady renewing hers. When she was doing the vision test, she was getting things wrong, and the person at the DMV just said "Oh, that's OK, try again" What the hell? There's no such thing as "trying again" when you don't see that pedestrian step into the street or the car in the lane you're trying to change into

I think the DMV is worried that if they say "No" then groups like AARP will be on their ass...kinda like that South Park episode, but you know, without the war and country kitchen buffet. And, I bet such groups would raise hell and cry discrimination. So just to avoid a bunch of old people getting pissed off because they had to pay for a taxi to get to their bingo game, they just hand them licenses every time the renewal date comes up and put everyone else in danger
 
Jurors in the Weller trial are in deliberations. Today they asked for clarification of the definition of "gross negligence".
 
horrible. i've always said that they should make it the law that people should have to retake their road test every 2 years after age 60. once your body (and mind) get old you can really go down the tubes overnight. i'd say about 95% of elderly people would fail the standard road test. would sure prevent a lot of auto accidents. ANYONE (teenager, old person, giraffe) simply should not be allowed to drive if they are not capable of passing a standard road test.
 
I have a better solution. Let's equip all cars with super-hi-tech sensors and auto-steering and auto-braking systems that take all the human judgment out of accident avoidance, as some luxury cars try to do. Our cars might as well have voice control, so you just get in and say "grocery store" and the car does the rest. Magnetic guides under roads would keep the car in its lane.

In case anything goes wrong, you'd have an expert technician onboard to solve any problems that might require human intervention. We could call these people "chauffeurs". In fact, we could cut down on costs by having these "chauffeurs" do the driving, in which case we could skip the hi-tech features. Humans are better at voice recognition anyway.

So there you have it, the hi-tech solution to accidents: chauffeurs.
 
Doctor Q said:
So there you have it, the hi-tech solution to accidents: chauffeurs.
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And then you could even make the people their own chauffeurs!!!! How cool would that be??!?!
 
Doctor Q said:
Some victims want to see him prosecuted. Others don't think that would serve any purpose (he turns 87 January first). Almost all have said they want to see older drivers tested more thoroughly and frequently.
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Doctor Q said:
Mr. Weller is 83 years old.
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????

Back in 2003 he was supposed to turn 87 on the upcoming January 1st. How did he get 4 years younger?

At this rate do we lock him up until he is 18 and then send him to Juvenile Hall?
 
atszyman said:
????

Back in 2003 he was supposed to turn 87 on the upcoming January 1st. How did he get 4 years younger?

At this rate do we lock him up until he is 18 and then send him to Juvenile Hall?
Click to expand...
Either the news reports I read are wrong, I misquoted them, or his lawyers are playing games with us!
 
Oh, I'm replying to posts from years ago... :)

Doctor Q said:
Another debatable issue: Would it be worth the cost to put up real concrete barricades, rather than simple sandwich-board signs, when streets are closed for pedestrian events, to prevent rare but deadly disasters like this one?
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I was just thinking about this the other day, but in the context of putting up the concrete barriers at every single road construction zone instead of just using pylons. My estimate is yes. Even just economically, if you don't value human life, if it saves one or two lives per year, then it's worthwhile. Since I do value human life, it becomes a no-brainer :)

Doctor Q said:
This doesn't seem to match the treatment of other drivers who simply step on the wrong pedal, which is what he claims happened. Of course, other drivers who make this mistake rarely cause so much carnage.
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A decade ago, I was hit by a car, where the driver said that they thought they were pressing on the brake. I was pinned up against a wall, by the bumper, for several seconds, while the tires spun in place. The driver only stopped when I banged on the hood and yelled out. It was so ludicrous, that I'm not sure I believe their explanation either... But, I guess it's not unheard of.
 
From Wikipedia:

On October 20, 2006, by a unanimous verdict, jurors found Weller guilty on all charges, convicting him of vehicular manslaughter for killing 10 pedestrians. The sentence is to be decided by the Court, with a maximum penalty of 18 years.

From the BBC Website (The world this week):

Elderly driver: US motorist George Weller, 89, is due to be sentenced in California for the manslaughter of 10 people when his car crashed into a farmers' market in 2003.
 
I'm glad to hear that he was found guilty. Hopefully this will send a signal to all elderly drivers whose driving abilities have deteriorated with age. Also, I hope that the children and friends of these drivers realize the consequences are real. I'm sure civil suits are in progress and if the guy has any assets, his children will no longer have anything to inherit.
 
An update

The Los Angeles Times reports today that the City of Santa Monica is finally going to put up barricades at the Farmers Market that can stop cars without seriously injuring the drivers.

They are nets with heavy-duty cables attached (see photo).
 
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agreenster said:
It isnt age discrimination. If the USA didnt place restrictions on people because of age, 5 year olds would vote and buy cigarettes and alcohol, 13 year olds would be driving, and child pornography would run rampant, just to name a few.
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And I wouldn't be paying absolutely stupid amounts on my car insurance despite having a safe record and being a responsible homeowning adult, simply because I'm in my early twenties. :mad:

EDIT: DANGIT, I replied to an ancient post. Funny thing is, too, I was reading this thread thinking "Hey, I remember something like this happening years ago."
 
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