No charges for woman who hit two cyclists in Oro Valley
According to KOLD, authorities say there likely will be no charges for the 85 year old woman who hit two cyclists from behind last month in Oro Valley. She apparently had a stroke. From the article:
Butler said what he suffered is nothing compared to his riding partner Dennis Peterson, who was still in the hospital Tuesday afternoon. Pictures of Peterson’s fractured bike were proof.
“What did happen was terrible, my friend is in critical condition and that’s very difficult for me to handle right now,” Butler said.
“A witness observed the female driving the vehicle strike the two bicyclists,” said Oro Valley Police spokeswoman Liz Wright. She said that Oro Valley Police know who hit Butler and Peterson and that she left the scene, but have not charged her with hit and run.
“For the interest of the community and for this person, they’re just not going to put somebody in jail, an 85 year old woman that clearly appears to have a medical condition going on,” Wright said.
Thanks Mike M for the link.
Erik Ryberg
October 7th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Erik….. I understand not putting an 85 year old woman in jail. This incident is tragic for Mr Butler and Dennis Peterson. The days in front of Mr. Peterson are going to be very difficult. What I do not understand is not doing something about the drivers ability to return to the roadway. It’s only a mater of time before she hits someone else. Maybe the authorities will do the right thing in time, but for now , she is still out there. I feel helpless. I can’t imagine how painful it must be for Mr. Butler.
October 7th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
An 85 year old person who clearly has a
medical condition going on should certainly
not be driving. It’s a true miracle she
didn’t hit anything else on her way home.
Aren’t people in that age bracket subject
to periodic testing for driving competency.
October 7th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
So she hit two bicyclsts because she was having a stroke, but then drove away just fine huh? Sounds a little like Fred Sanford’s convenient heart attacks.
October 7th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
As far as the driver getting behind a wheel again, I just can’t see it happening. Her husband, family and doctors will probably intervene for safety’s sake. As far as not charging her with an offense, well, of course, if I suffered a stroke and took out two cyclists, I would hope I wouldn’t be found guilty of any charges. Seems fair. However, that doesn’t mean that the driver wasn’t responsible for injuries and that her insurance shouldn’t cover the medical expenses of the poor guys. So if the end result is that she never drives again and her insurance pays for injuries and damages (and let’s all hope that is the case,) is that satisfactory?
October 7th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I have to agree with Pam. You don’t throw the book at an 85 year old woman. But you sure don’t let her drive again and this is the third high-profile bike collision involving an elderly driver in a year. One (the El Tour incident) left a man permanently disabled, one killed the victim, Jerome Featherman, and one badly injured these two riders.
Are these just acceptable societal costs for using the roadways? Or should people be forced to stop driving after a certain age? What would that age be? I admit these are not easy questions, but it seems we should acknowledge that people start to get a bit addled at a certain point in their lives, and their reflexes slow, and their likelihood of having a medical emergency while driving increases.
Also, it can be difficult for their families to make them stop driving. I would bet there are a lot of families out there that would welcome a state-enforced termination of their elderly family members’ driving rights.
EBR
October 7th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
No, I don’t think it is an acceptable
societal cost to ask serious injury
or death of someone because a high
risk person cannot come to grips
with giving up their car. Cars have
too much meaning in our society and
it seems cyclists are bearing the brunt
of that right now.
October 7th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
It seems perfectly reasonable to me that after a certain age, an annual evaluation test of some sort be required to retain an operator’s license. Back in the day, we had a mock brake/accelerator practice pad in HS driver’s ed. The first time I took the reflex test I missed the brake pedal – yikes :-} THere is probably a program like this in place somewhere near as we speak. And it isn’t just cyclists who are victimized; bad senior drivers have killed and mamed pedestrians at marketplaces and bus stops all over the country. When does your license expire? Mine expires when I’m 65, a good place to start requiring annual testing.
October 8th, 2009 at 7:14 am
More than 43,000 people were killed on US roadways last year. Clearly this is acceptable social cost for our love affair with the auto. If 43,000 deaths aren’t enough to start a riot, what can we expect for a handful of cyclists?
I’m all for mandatory drivers tests for the elderly, especially if they plan on driving motorhomes that are often larger than 18-wheelers.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I think her medical records should be required to be opened up for inspection. She still can do community service. Seniors shoudln’t need to drive, they should have transportation in place. You can submit a form if you feel someone’s DL should be yanked http://mvd.azdot.gov/mvd/formsandpub/viewPDF.asp?lngProductKey=2042&lngFormInfoKey=1861
Here is a handy what to expect at 65.
http://www.azdot.gov/mvd/MedicalReview/MedicalRequirementsDL.asp
October 8th, 2009 at 8:27 am
my second link failed here it is.
http://www.dmv.com/az/arizona/senior-drivers
October 8th, 2009 at 9:01 am
“Also, it can be difficult for their families to make them stop driving. I would bet there are a lot of families out there that would welcome a state-enforced termination of their elderly family members’ driving rights.” (EBR, above)
To the extent that the elders have unencumbered assets, there would be a financial incentive for families to make sure insurance is adequate and premiums are paid.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, there is this:
http://www.azdot.gov/mvd/MedicalReview/MedicalRequirementsDL.asp
October 8th, 2009 at 10:30 am
“It seems perfectly reasonable to me that after a certain age, an annual evaluation test of some sort be required to retain an operator’s license.”
Pam- I agree completely, but for older people driving means independence and it is an incredibly emotional issue for them. It is very hard for family members to prevent them from driving and hard to get evena physician to back them up. The AZ program of reporting an unsafe driver and requiring a medical/driving eval sounds like a very good option, hopefully it works well. Doing it automatically at 65 sounds to me like a better idea, but I’m sure there would be a huge fight against any move to implement something like that. Here you can extend your license renewal to 20 years which saves money but doesn’t enhance safety at all, not sure if there are age limits to this option.
October 8th, 2009 at 10:46 am
As baby boomers age, this is going to be an increasing problem. I don’t think the problem will go away until we get adequate, reliable mass transit that doesn’t take forever. (I live near U of A–It takes 1 hour to take the bus downtown. Only 15 minutes on my bike, thankfully).
I am all for testing elderly drivers, but get ready for the AARP (an evil organization, in my opinion, because they advocate for the elderly at the expense of the young) to start squawking…. Driving was NEVER a right, and it should not be one now. I think the test should have some sort of way to measure reaction time.
October 8th, 2009 at 11:54 am
“It seems perfectly reasonable to me that after a certain age, an annual evaluation test of some sort be required to retain an operator’s license.” (Pam originally, also Rupert)
I’m of the opinion that “certain age” should be 16. The state of Arizona is terribly derelict when it comes to licensing and educating drivers. I have no doubt there are people out there who haven’t have any formal review of the “rules of the road” for 20 years or more.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Exactly, Collin.
Keep it an on-going process and
ageism doesn’t become a factor.
It would also put people in
touch with their own declining
skills.
Requirements used to be tougher,
I think. At least in Ohio where
Coghauler first succumbed to the
beast.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I am proud of the bike community. Lots of frustration out there, yet calm, respectful and well thought out comments. The only way we have to vent frustration. Thanks Erik ! I’ll get personal because so much of what you all have said applies to me. I’m a baby boomer, my license was good for 6 years only because, I turn 65 when it expires in 2012. You guys are right, I can’t remember when I last took a driver test. That’s wrong ! My brother died of complications after a motor cycle crash, I’m the only child left in my family. After my father died, My mother wanted to drive. I tested her, driving and written. She failed, not even close. To fail the test, a precondition was she had to loose her license to me. She was able to understand how dangerous it would be for her to drive. The thought she might kill someone was enough for her to surrender her license and vehicle to me. We were able to get public transportation (Van Tran), they picked her up at times she needed and took her shopping and to the Doctor when I was not there to do so. It was not hard. I just do not understand how families allow other family members on the road when they must know they run a risk of killing. Alison, you are right , AARP is evil, they do nothing to help seniors in this area. Red Star, You are right, attach assets in a civil case, all it takes. Families can go to the PIMA County court clerk’s office and file in Probate court a request for evaluation of an elder family member. Their mental state and ability to drive can be looked at by the court. So, in my case, if my mother did not give up her license and vehicle, I had recourse. Thanks to all of you for getting involved.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
OH, YEA, BB…. I forgot, I used my ContourHD today for the first time. Thanks again ! For those of you who don’t know what that is , it’s a video camera you can mount to your handle bars. 3.7 oz. easy to use and fun as well. http://www.VholdR.com. Have fun, it’s a kick.
October 8th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
See the problem with new requirements for elderly drivers in Arizona is that you have to get it passed through the state senate. And with Arizona being so full of retirees, you’ll be hard-pressed to find support for such a bill.
So I guess people will keep getting run over by incompetent drivers until it hits a tipping point. I wonder how many fatalities it would take until people started to care.