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Senior Driver Avoids Prison Time
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Recently, a colleague bravely addressed the sometimes-taboo issue of senior driving. She also posed the difficult question: when is enough enough? Lots of information was provided on how to detect subpar driving skills, and how best to convince a potentially dangerous senior driver to cease and desist. A recent trip to see my grandfather, 87, reassured me that he displays few, if any, of the warning signs of an unsafe driver. A resident of a long-term care facility, Grandpa still has his own car and drives daily. However, the outcome of a much-publicized case has me thinking—was this man a potential liability before he got behind the wheel?
In 2003, at age 86, George Weller drove his car through a Santa Monica farmers’ market killing 10 people and injuring 63; Weller was found guilty of felony vehicular manslaughter. Facing up to 18 years in prison, Weller received five years’ probation instead. L.A. County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson made it no secret that while he feels Weller deserves prison time, little would be accomplished in sending the frail elderly man to jail. By Weller’s account, he had accidentally put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, and then tried to stop, but couldn’t.
Turns out Weller, a father, grandfather and great-grandfather, has a couple of priors. Footage of an accident he had been in ten years earlier showed Weller driving off a road in much the same fashion as the farmers’ market accident, with a confused-looking Weller wandering around his crashed car in a highly populated area. Soon after, state officials revoked Weller’s driver’s license. So why was he driving again? Weller’s supporters argued that he suffered from arthritis and nausea as a side effect of medication, and reduced mobility from a hip replacement. It seems clear to me that someone close to Weller should have discussed with him the potential dangers and liabilities of driving at his age considering his illnesses and past driving record. And that begs the question: what do we do with seniors who continue to drive despite being warned of the risks?
Road tested and approved, from me to you--
Ami Icanberry
Posted in: General News
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