| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Another Tale From God's Waiting Room |
| 2005-10-21 |
| EFL:Might be time to give up the keys, pops... ST. PETERSBURG - A 93-year-old motorist struck and killed a pedestrian Wednesday evening, then drove about 3 miles with the body lodged in the windshield until he was stopped at a Sunshine Skyway tollbooth. The driver told officers he thought the body had fallen from the sky, said St. Petersburg police Officer Mike Jockers. Yeah, I suppose that could happen... "He had no idea he had been involved in an accident," Jockers said. "He doesn't totally understand what happened." How'd that dead guy get stuck in my windshield? The impact severed the pedestrian's lower right leg, which remained in the street. His head and arms went through the windshield, while the rest of his body flipped up onto the roof of the car, Jockers said. "The driver continued southbound, as the eyewitness said, like nothing happened," Jockers said. Oh, no! Another dead guy stuck in my windshield? Not again! As the car approached the toll plaza, the toll taker thought it was a prank, until he saw the blood. Yeah. It was a...prank! That's the ticket! When the driver stopped, the body fell into the car, Jockers said. Can I go now, sonny? A veteran traffic investigator, Jockers said it was one of the most gruesome scenes he has worked. Neither the name of the driver nor the name of the victim was released Wednesday. The driver, who lives in Pinellas Park, told police that he was headed home. Pinellas Park, however, is miles in the opposite direction. "Obviously, he was confused," Jockers said. "Incredibly confused." Incredibly, incredibly confused... The driver was taken to Bayfront Medical Center for evaluation He will probably not face criminal charges, as he appeared unaware that he had been involved in an accident, Jockers said. Huh? I'll have to remember that one. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #9 For drivers 85 and over, NHTSA statistics show that the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled begins to zoom upward to a rate 9 times as high as the rate for drivers between from age 25 through 69." Wonder if it's worse than the 16-25 crowd. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-10-21 18:57 |
| #8 "Although some drivers in their 80s and even 90s continue to drive safely, the odds in that age group are not good, according to NHTSA statistics. For drivers 65 and older, the crash rate per mile driven begins to increase slowly. For drivers 85 and over, NHTSA statistics show that the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled begins to zoom upward to a rate 9 times as high as the rate for drivers between from age 25 through 69." http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1031002304.html |
| Posted by: Darrell 2005-10-21 14:00 |
| #7 The big auto insurers are all complicit in this. They don't want the pool of drivers decreased because it would cut into their profits. Most of the oldsters pay their premiums (unlike the masses of young drivers illegally going without insurance in places like New Jersey, Philly and Southern California) Until the insurance companies stop running interference for older drivers, we'll keep sharing the road with blind, senile drivers who possess the reaction time of a frozen garden slug in defensive driving situations. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2005-10-21 12:57 |
| #6 Book him, Danno, murder one. |
| Posted by: Spetch Ebbasing3474 2005-10-21 12:48 |
| #5 the dangerous ones! they're all dangerous, the rest of the general population take note and look out! |
| Posted by: bk 2005-10-21 12:06 |
| #4 Apparently he couldn't find a farmer's market... |
| Posted by: Raj 2005-10-21 09:13 |
| #3 My dad is eagerly awaiting the day that I and my siblings come to him to take away his keys and promise to chauffeur him for the rest of his days. He hates to drive. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-10-21 09:11 |
| #2 Look at the size of that bug which hit the windshield! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-10-21 09:08 |
| #1 This is why they need to carefully test elderly drivers so as to weed out the dangerous ones. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-10-21 08:38 |