Pangloss Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-1021body,0,282956.story?track=mostemailedlink ST. PETERSBURG -- A 93-year-old driver apparently suffering from dementia fatally struck a pedestrian, then continued driving through a toll booth with the man's body on his windshield, police said. Ralph Parker, of Pinellas Park, drove for three miles Wednesday night after striking the 52-year-old pedestrian with his gold 2002 Chevrolet Malibu, severing the man's right leg, police said. A toll taker on the Sunshine Skyway saw the body stuck through Parker's windshield and notified police, Traffic Homicide Investigator Michael Jockers said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 With the amount of golden oldies in the St Pete area, I'd be guessing that homicide by auto would be much greater than homicide by gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokele Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 IIRC, Tampa is actually the number one city in the US for per-capita pedestrian-vehicle accidents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 So sad. But humor always forces it's way into my head when tragedy strikes, and I'm reminded of a Seinfeld bit where he claims most New Yorkers who turn 65 (never having driven a car before) retire, buy a Cadillac, put on the left turn signal and move to Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangloss Posted October 22, 2005 Author Share Posted October 22, 2005 Another old Seinfeld joke: "Yup, my parents just moved to Florida. They didn't want to go, but, you know, they turned 65 and that's the law!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Demosthenes- Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 It's the title of the thread that makes is so funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevermore Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 I live near 4 or 5 assisted living places, and I can tell you, old people are not as bad at driving as people say. They are worse. Far, far worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 that blows. but why is this in the politics forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangloss Posted November 4, 2005 Author Share Posted November 4, 2005 Well it's part of the politics of Florida, which seems to have international interest since the 2000 election, and because it pertains to another discussion we had recently. It's also "science politics", relating to the scientific issue of an aging society and its political repurcussions. I would encourage people to post more threads related to local political issue which the poster believes have larger repurcussions, or scientific ones. I don't think we discuss enough politics on this board, nor does this board have sufficient breadth. We tend to beat around the same tired old discussions time and again. One of my goals is to widen the discussion here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyJoeCool Posted November 5, 2005 Share Posted November 5, 2005 To clarify, not ALL old people are bad drivers... it's a stereotype that is mostly justified, because the ones who have deminished sight, reaction time, etc. can't keep control of the car as well. So, a lot of them compensate by going slower. It's the ones that don't that you have to watch out for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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