The Elderly And Driving

[Guest feraldan]

I remember when I got hit by an elderly woman on her way to church. I had just grabbed lunch and was pulling away from a parking space. I got about 50 yards down the road when a car heading towards me veered over the double yellow and plowed into my truck head-on. I was fine and got out. The other car was a total mess and the lady wasn't moving. The car was smoking as well so I was more than slightly worried about a fire breaking out. I managed to pry her door open and pull her to the side of the road where she started to wake up. She had a real bad nose bleed but seemed relatively alright otherwise. I asked her what happened and she said, "I sneezed."

At the time I felt bad for her, especially after EMS carted her away but then the officer on scene came over and told me she had numerous prior accidents. Well isn't that an indication to anyone? Shouldn't we be paying attention to patterns like this? Regular re-testing or screening is one thing, but for elderly who have regular MVA's, even minor ones, there should be some type of preemptive investigation or something. Maybe there is and I just don't know about it.

My own grandfather was legally blind and had a driver's license before he passed away. He had the good sense to not get behind the wheel despite limited vision, but that doesn't mean they all will.

[RWC130 594]

I don't think it's discrimination against the elderly at all,

if it becomes UNSAFE for them to operate a motor vehicle they should not.

[ONEEYEDMIC 68]

Yonkers man killed by car on downtown Chappaqua sidewalk

By JONATHAN BANDLER AND YARON STEINBUCH

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: August 9, 2007)

CHAPPAQUA -A 61-year-old man who was well known for his kindness and sense of humor was struck and killed by a car on his way to Starbucks this afternoon.

Gregory Cook, a resident of Yonkers, died on a sidewalk when a car driven by an 80-year-old woman slammed into him about 2:15 p.m. on Lower King Street at the busiest intersection of the hamlet's shopping district, police said.

His daughter, Jennifer Cook, 36, a Chappaqua firefighter, went to the scene of the tragedy and helped the traumatized passers-by -but was unaware the victim was her father until she was notified by the fire chief about 6 p.m.

"I had a horrible feeling but I thought he could not be my dad," Cook said last night in a telephone interview. "I was just worried it was one of my friends."

Cook said her father was a regular at Starbucks, where he made people laugh, and was about to cross the street to go there when he was hit by the car. She had been planning to meet him there later in the day.

Gregory Cook, a gym coach in Rockland County, spent most of his time in Chappaqua, where he doted on his daughter and 35-year-old son, Christopher, said Jennifer Cook, a massage therapist.

Elaine Schapiro, the driver of the 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, apparently lost control following a sharp curve on King Street's steep downhill.

Merchants, shoppers, diners and pedestrians knew something was wrong when they heard a screeching noise as the car approached North Greeley Avenue. The Chevrolet shot through the intersection and jumped the curb, knocking over a stop sign in front of Sotheby's International Realty and crashing into Cook. The car then crashed into two parked cars before coming to rest on the sidewalk.

"I asked if (Schapiro) was OK. She was shaking and not saying anything," said Diane Dietz, a waitress at nearby Chappaqua Restaurant & Cafe who heard the crash and went to see what happened. "I honestly think she lost control. It's unfortunate. It's sad."

Schapiro was taken to Westchester Medical Center after Chappaqua firefighters pried off the roof of the car and pulled her out.

King and Greeley is one of the intersections in downtown Chappaqua where the town of New Castle has been studying ways to make it safer for pedestrians.

The ELDERLY STRIKES AGAIN. I bet CLINTON is going to put a ban on DRIVING in CHAPPAQUA now. LOL

[Guest]

i saw it on news 12, what a horrible thing for that girl to respond to the scene of her father, it's just terrible.

the intersection of king and greeley is a bad intersection that is getting more and more busy. hopefully they'll finally put up a traffic light there

[helicopper 1,050]

After being t-boned by a 93 year-old who drove out of a shopping center and into the side of my car many moons ago, I thought the same thing about elderly drivers - and still do. HOWEVER, I gotta say that NOBODY knows how (or cares to) drive safely and legally anymore. Teens, soccer moms, joe commuters, elderly, men, women, boys, girls, those undecided... it just doesn't matter. Yield is a foreign concept, signals are optional, speed limits only apply in the left lane, the shoulder is an extra lane, if there is room between me and the guy in front of me we left it open for you, stop signs mean slow down and the list goes on.

Driver's Ed, road tests, written tests, and renewal of licenses should be more comprehensive to make sure people actually LEARN the rules of the road.

Sheesh!

[ONEEYEDMIC 68]

Chris I totally agree with you. How come when I am working I don't see these IDIOTS driving? When I am with the Family I see every possible scenario right before my eyes. Time to start building my RAY GUN again.

[Guest]

another terrible incident from an elderly man who slammed on the gas instead of the break (this was not in the news)

a woman i work with from a different dept in the 19 bradhurst building at wmc was outside taking a stroll during her lunch break when (gossip town has it) the elderly man made the turn into the rear parking lot too fast and meant to slam on the break, but instead slammed on the gas.

he slammed into my co-worker, shattering her leg and muscle tissue into jelly. luckily the major blood systems were not nicked, but there was still a lot of blood from the capillaries’ bleeding. she had two open fractures to her leg and a closed fracture to her clavicle. she was tx'd by 87 to wmc and is in ICU, and the EMS and MD's SAVED her leg. She was VERY CLOSE to loosing her LEG!

WCPD was outside for quite some time doing AI, but the bottom line is, if this man wasn't behind the wheel the ODDS are, this would have never happened. this is truly a terrible incident.