The dangerous elderly driver thread.

[Madman]

Austin, Texas:  Mary Lee Fine, an 86-year-old motorist, lost control of her car and drove into a swimming pool.

Link to story, with video of crash!:  http://news.sky.com/home/strange-news/article/16101580

[Madman]

"PALM COAST, FLORIDA (Where else?  ) -- The woman who crashed into the Publix on Belle Terre Parkway was charged with careless driving Tuesday as the Florida Highway Patrol released a video showing her car shattering glass doors as it crashed into the supermarket and plowed through shoppers.

"When you see the video you realize it's a miracle no one got killed," FHP Capt. Jerry Crews said.

Ten Palm Coast residents were injured when 76-year-old Thelma Wagenhoffer's 2004 Toyota Camry "accelerated rapidly as it crossed the parking lot" and crashed into the Publix, the FHP said.

The car careened through the store for 40 to 50 feet -- at least, Crews said."


http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2012/04/18/woman-charged-in-palm-coast-publix-crash.html

[Madman]

77-year-old Scottish driver backs his car down an embankment and into a stream while attempting to park.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-18237374





Also a candidate for the Bad Parking Hall of Shame!  

[Byteme]

Teen Driver Falls Asleep, Causes Fiery Crash

http://www.10news.com/news/31065772/detail.html


Teen driver killed in rollover crash on Interstate 99 work zone

http://www.wjactv.com/news/news/teen-driver-killed-rollover-crash-interstate-99-wo/nPFdf/


Teen driver dies in two-vehicle crash

http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/05/teen-driver-dies-in-two-vehicle-crash.php

[Madman]

Have I struck a nerve or are you just being a contrarian for the sake of it? 

[GoCougs]

Mr. Riley, 91, and his wife, Rose, 93, both died Thursday when the station wagon he was driving suddenly accelerated and struck a tree at North 34th Street and Burke Avenue North.

Side note - the esteemed Mr. Riley brought the abomination that was school busing (i.e., putting rich kids in poor schools) to Seattle that led to white flight that left the city with one of the highest private school attendances in the nation.

[Madman]

Mr. Riley, 91, and his wife, Rose, 93, both died Thursday when the station wagon he was driving suddenly accelerated and struck a tree at North 34th Street and Burke Avenue North.

Side note - the esteemed Mr. Riley brought the abomination that was school busing (i.e., putting rich kids in poor schools) to Seattle that led to white flight that left the city with one of the highest private school attendances in the nation.

Do you have to turn EVERYTHING into a political rant?

[CJ]

Do you have to turn EVERYTHING into a political rant?

That's not a political ranting.

[Laconian]

I found a big boarded-up area in the entrance of my favorite pet store.

Elderly driver drove her Expedition clear through the wall and about 20 feet into the store. She mistook the pedals.

Nobody hurt, but wow, what a disaster.

[Madman]

Also posted in the Bad Parking Hall of Shame......



"A 74-year-old driver was shaken but uninjured after he drove his BMW SUV through a heavy wire barrier in a Loop garage and landed on two cars a floor below, authorities said."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-suv-crashes-through-parking-garage-barriers-ends-up-on-top-of-2-other-cars-20120621,0,3915433.story

[Madman]

"Louise Ericksen, 72, of Baudette was traveling southbound on Minnesota Highway 72 in Beltrami County, about six miles north of Blackduck , just before 10:30 a.m. when the car crossed the centerline and went into the east ditch.

While driving on the slope of the ditch, the car struck a no-passing sign with its driver?s side rear-door area, breaking the door window. According to the Patrol report, passenger Kendall Erickson, 15, of Baudette, was sleeping in the rear seat and as the car bounced along rough terrain in the ditch, she was ejected out the broken window."


Oh, the story gets better.  That's because the aged driver continued down the road as is nothing abnormal had happened and didn't even notice her passenger had been thrown from the car!   


http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/237011/

[Madman]

Maine State Trooper Douglas Cropper had to use his police cruiser to stop 88-year-old Kenneth Gill from driving the wrong way on Interstate 295 after Gill failed to notice the officer's signal to stop his car.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/maine-State-police-video-cruiser-wrong-way-intercept.html

[Secret Chimp]

God that fucking video. Literally nothing happens until the last two seconds.

[Madman]

"LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Preston Carter, a 100-year-old man backed his car on to a sidewalk and hit 11 people, including nine children, across from an elementary school in South Los Angeles just after classes had ended Wednesday, authorities said."

http://www.boston.com/news/education/2012/08/30/police-year-old-driver-hits-near-school/Z4BOTjawDmbEu2VzA32OIK/story.html


Driving a powder-blue Cadillac with a vinyl roof, too.  What a surprise!

[Laconian]

That made the news en France!

[Madman]

A teenage girl was mown down by an elderly motorist days after he refused to surrender his driving licence to police despite failing an eyesight test.
Cassie McCord, 16, was on her way to college when 87-year-old Colin Horsfall's car ploughed into her.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086179/Colin-Horsfall-87-killed-Cassie-McCord-16-days-refusing-surrender-licence.html

[12,000 RPM]

I still dont understand the aversion to self driving cars. I know everyone online is a driving god, but I don't think it would be difficult to make a car that could drive w/o mowing down kindergarteners. The Google cars seem to have managed to do OK so far in this regard.

[Madman]

I know everyone online is a driving god

[Northlands]

http://youtu.be/hskBGTk38lA

[Raza]

I still dont understand the aversion to self driving cars. I know everyone online is a driving god, but I don't think it would be difficult to make a car that could drive w/o mowing down kindergarteners. The Google cars seem to have managed to do OK so far in this regard.

We've gone round and round on this, so no sense in reiterating the whole thing.  But to sum it up, computers are stupid. 

[Morris Minor]

We've gone round and round on this, so no sense in reiterating the whole thing.  But to sum it up, computers are stupid. 

Well yes they're stupid. But they are less stupid than we are, in the sense that they are more reliable, predictable and consistent. These qualities lend themselves to high stakes non-complex tasks like transporting people from place to place.

[Laconian]

Computers don't start lobbying groups like AARP to defend themselves when they under threat of becoming obsolete and being replaced.

[Raza]

Well yes they're stupid. But they are less stupid than we are, in the sense that they are more reliable, predictable and consistent. These qualities lend themselves to high stakes non-complex tasks like transporting people from place to place.

No, they're not.  They're exactly as stupid as people are, without the ability to react instinctively or creatively. 

[Tave]

No, they're not.  They're exactly as stupid as people are, without the ability to react instinctively or creatively.

A computer can't get drunk, take its eyes off the road to text a friend, fall asleep because it drove too far for too long, try to eat a cheeseburger while shifting, etc... All examples of incredibly stupid and alarmingly common driving behavior of your everyday average human being.

Most accidents are caused by distracted driving, not uncreative drivers faced with a difficult situation.

[Raza]

A computer can't get drunk, take its eyes off the road to text a friend, fall asleep because it drove too far for too long, try to eat a cheeseburger while shifting, etc... All examples of incredibly stupid and alarmingly common driving behavior of your everyday average human being.

Most accidents are caused by distracted driving, not uncreative drivers faced with a difficult situation.

This is what I wanted to avoid.  This round and round. 

Giving me examples of people breaking the law or doing otherwise unsafe things is not an argument for computers, it's an argument for better drivers.  I don't drink and drive.  I don't drive distracted.  Therefore I don't want a computer making decisions for me when I am more capable of making those decisions. 

[NomisR]

A computer can't get drunk, take its eyes off the road to text a friend, fall asleep because it drove too far for too long, try to eat a cheeseburger while shifting, etc... All examples of incredibly stupid and alarmingly common driving behavior of your everyday average human being.

Most accidents are caused by distracted driving, not uncreative drivers faced with a difficult situation.

Computers crashes, freezes, over heats and who knows what else can happen.  We've had that happen with our desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, you don't think this won't happen while on the road?  And now what? 

[Raza]

Computers crashes, freezes, over heats and who knows what else can happen.  We've had that happen with our desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, you don't think this won't happen while on the road?  And now what?

That's not a concern.  Imperfect humans will always create perfect machines.  Crashes, freezes, hacking, et al, wouldn't be a problem. 

[12,000 RPM]

That's not a concern.  Imperfect humans will always create perfect machines.  Crashes, freezes, hacking, et al, wouldn't be a problem.

There are a lot of things computers don't do that humans do. Computers may not be perfect, but I trust a computer more than say, a drunkard, a blind old lady, an inexperienced FB addicted teen, a meth addict. Like I said, we know you are a driving deity, and are always in control, and could take a minute off a Nurburgring lap in a GT-R from its own computer controlled time. But you are not who society would benefit from replacing with a computer.

[280Z Turbo]

That's not a concern.  Imperfect humans will always create perfect machines.  Crashes, freezes, hacking, et al, wouldn't be a problem. 

I think the bigger issue is that manual driving will become illegal.

[JWC]

I think the bigger issue is that manual driving will become illegal.

At least in towns and in parking lots.  I can imagine that there may be a time in the future where we drive into a parking lot and computers take over and park the car automatically.