Little old lady from Pasadena (Goldcoast)

Baron von Richthofen (Vaclav) · #1 09-10-2009, 05:21 PM

An 80-year-old woman is recovering after her Porsche Boxter crashed through the foyer of an apartment building on the Gold Coast.
The woman, who lives in the apartments, was returning home to the complex with a friend, when she somehow lost control and smashed through the windows of the lift area. She says she cannot remember what happened.
She narrowly missed some people waiting for the lifts.
The woman was not injured in the accident.
Police say no drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash

AstralTraveller (David) · #2 09-10-2009, 05:50 PM

Apart from the Porsche much the same thing recently happened at my local shops. An old woman was doing a U-turn but pushed the accelerator when she wanted the brake and wound up mounting the gutter and hitting a shopfront. No one was hurt. But a few years ago an old driver killed a child at a set of trafficlights when she did the same. It is really very very sad when something like that happens. Quite apart from the victims family, the driver is traumatised for life. It affects their health and some never recover, as I have seen.

The woman in this story will be upset and probably will never drive again but, really, she got off lightly for discovering that she can no longer drive. I'm very glad that dad took himself off the road before we had to force him off, and mum only drives locally and not at night. That is because they saw what happened to their parents. One of my grandfathers stopped (more correctly was stopped from) driving when he ran up the back of a car because he couldn't push the brake pedal hard enough. Nana had a collision with a street sweeper on a back street where they were the only vehicles on the road. The other grandfather caused an accident in which my grandmother was killed.

Sorry to put a dampener on a funny story - I shouldn't have - but dottery old drivers have been a serious and sad issue for me and the rave just went that way.

Baron von Richthofen (Vaclav) · #3 09-10-2009, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

Apart from the Porsche much the same thing recently happened at my local shops. An old woman was doing a U-turn but pushed the accelerator when she wanted the brake and wound up mounting the gutter and hitting a shopfront. No one was hurt. But a few years ago an old driver killed a child at a set of trafficlights when she did the same. It is really very very sad when something like that happens. Quite apart from the victims family, the driver is traumatised for life. It affects their health and some never recover, as I have seen.

The woman in this story will be upset and probably will never drive again but, really, she got off lightly for discovering that she can no longer drive. I'm very glad that dad took himself off the road before we had to force him off, and mum only drives locally and not at night. That is because they saw what happened to their parents. One of my grandfathers stopped (more correctly was stopped from) driving when he ran up the back of a car because he couldn't push the brake pedal hard enough. Nana had a collision with a street sweeper on a back street where they were the only vehicles on the road. The other grandfather caused an accident in which my grandmother was killed.

Sorry to put a dampener on a funny story - I shouldn't have - but dottery old drivers have been a serious and sad issue for me and the rave just went that way.

I have to agree with you but what is an 80 year old driving a very high power car in the first place, it should not be allowed

multiweb (Marc) · #4 09-10-2009, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baron von Richthofen

I have to agree with you but what is an 80 year old driving a very high power car in the first place, it should not be allowed

Bloody oath! She should give it to me.

GrahamL · #5 09-10-2009, 07:32 PM

marc !!

I've noticed my old mans (late 70s) reaction time has slowed up of late
Like he'll sit at a give way sign and theres an uncomfortable pause
between him looking at a clear turn and him takeing off .

My son on a bus on the pacific hwy last week had an old fella 84
pause that little to long and pull out when the bus was on him .. very sad.

Its a pretty hard one to judge when a family members independance
is on the line , like my fathers a great driver never had an accident
and he would probably be fine in nearlly all situations , but the
bottleneck around the roadworks on the hwy I mention above
and probably a quite a few of those situations that come up were you and I just have to ..and ..do deal very quickly with what in front of us can have some pretty tragic results if your a little off the pace .

Ian Robinson · #6 09-10-2009, 07:38 PM

Wonder if she was under the influence.

At least - neg driving charge from the cops.

You'd think by her age she'd be old enough to not want to drive fast sports cars.

More money than brains if you ask me.

Octane (Humayun) · #7 09-10-2009, 07:42 PM

In Baron's original post...

Quote:

Police say no drugs or alcohol were involved in the cras

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian Robinson

Wonder if she was under the influence.

At least - neg driving charge from the cops.

You'd think by her age she'd be old enough to not want to drive fast sports cars.

More money than brains if you ask me.

Baron von Richthofen (Vaclav) · #8 09-10-2009, 08:04 PM

-- TAXI--

I think the Government should create a free aged taxi service for the aged over 70 and stop people driving when they reach 70

xelasnave · #9 09-10-2009, 08:19 PM

Yes only the young should drive cars that can do over 250 klms per hour... in fact why do we allow such vehicles on our roads when they reach the speed limit when they wind it out in first.
alex

TrevorW · #10 09-10-2009, 08:32 PM

The car is irrelevant

this type of thing happens all too regularly with the elderly and it's sad too deprive them of the independence but it's their reflex's and reaction time's that should be tested once they reach a certain age not necessarily their driving ability

IMO

Ian Robinson · #11 09-10-2009, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane

In Baron's original post...

Being under the influence need not necessarily mean pissed .

What about prescription meds for this and age related health problem .

Wouldn't want to be operating a car if she's heavily medicated , these wont have been tested for my the cops and unless she admits to having taken powerful pharmaceuticals there's nothing they can do.

erick (Eric) · #12 09-10-2009, 09:05 PM

Sometime late in his 70s, my Father came back into the house, put the keys on the table and said he is never driving again, and he didn't - relinquished his licence the next week. I wasn't there and Mum said she never found out what happened, but something must have scared him. I'm pleased he decided.

However, I wish he'd worked that out six months earlier when the Police pulled them over coming back from the dances - driving erratically apparently. (ps. My Father hadn't touched alcohol for 50 years.)

Ian Robinson · #13 09-10-2009, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erick

Sometime late in his 70s, my Father came back into the house, put the keys on the table and said he is never driving again, and he didn't - relinquished his licence the next week. I wasn't there and Mum said she never found out what happened, but something must have scared him. I'm pleased he decided.

However, I wish he'd worked that out six months earlier when the Police pulled them over coming back from the dances - driving erratically apparently. (ps. My Father hadn't touched alcohol for 50 years.)

My granddad relinquished his drivers' licence when he was 80 , and my dad , who had cataracs was thinking of doing the same in his mid 70s only he died beforehand.

I think elderly drivers' should be tested annually to ensure they are medically and physically capable of driving and not being a hazard on the roads.

multiweb (Marc) · #14 10-10-2009, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightstalker

Its a pretty hard one to judge when a family members independance is on the line , like my fathers a great driver never had an accident and he would probably be fine in nearlly all situations , but the bottleneck around the roadworks on the hwy I mention above and probably a quite a few of those situations that come up were you and I just have to ..and ..do deal very quickly with what in front of us can have some pretty tragic results if your a little off the pace .

I was cracking a joke at the car. Such a beautiful piece of engineering trashed in the glass. I would take better care of it

I agree the oldies have every right to be on the road as other commuters do. We just have to look out for them and be patient.

I have no problems at all with that. My grand father used to be a schocker. He "owned" the roads and didn't understand why other people would get in his way, cars or pedestrians.