Car strikes pedestrian, downtown church

[CoolBreeze]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- An elderly woman lost control of her vehicle Monday, striking a pedestrian and a downtown church. Charleston police say Ruth Barton, 90, was leaving the Manna Meals parking lot on Quarrier Street around 12:30 p.m., when she lost control of her vehicle and hit several parking meters on the right side of the street.

Her vehicle then crossed the road, where she hit Robert Caerley and ran into the entrance of St. John's Episcopal Church, police said.

Caerley was taken to the Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital.

[genlock]

Someday Coolbreeze will be old.

[CoolBreeze]

I can wait! I already have a list of targets!

[Jet Black]

The sad thing was the lady slunped over the steering wheel in the aftermath, setting off the Dixie horn over and over...

[fearpeddler]

Someday Coolbreeze will be old.

someday.... retired = old in my eyes....

[CoolBreeze]

Hardly a day goes by that some old geezer (usually a woman) doesn't try to kill me. It's getting to the point that I no longer just curse to myself and let it go. Now, I track them down and report them to the police.

Take today's attempt to kill me:

This lady stopped DEAD in the PASSING LANE of Corridor G, when she realized that she was in the wrong lane to turn into Wal-Mart. I was behind her on a motorcycle, and the car behind me stopped only by the grace of God! She then proceeded to make an illegal left turn from the passing lane, crowding the cars that were already in the turn lane. She then met another elderly friend at "Heavenly Ham", which is where I took these photos.

I've called the cops and reported her because she could barely navigate the parking lot. Her family needs to take her keys before she kills an innocent bystander. Just because you're old doesn't give you the right to mow people down with your car....

[Jet Black]

A wreck caused under the circumstances you describe where this woman stopped abrubtly, would be your fault. You'd be charged with failure to control.

[Hoosier Daddy]

In Ohio, there's a nasty little catch-all traffic law called "Assured Clear Distance Ahead", or "ACDA", as its known by judges, attorneys, and law enforcement people. What the law basically says is that every driver must stay far enough behind other vehicles to stop their own vehicle without causing a crash in the event the first vehicle must brake suddenly to avoid hitting something or someone. Common sense and well-meaning in one way but vague and open-ended in another. Most states have similar statutes. With a growing elderly (and independent and politically powerful) population, we'll see more people who really shouldn't be behind the wheel on our streets and highways in the years to come.

[AmpedNow]

I see this crap all the time -- esp with the lack of turn signals, as if we're supposed to read minds...

Usually, it's an elderly person, but there's also quite a few young females who have a cell phone in their free hand all the time.

The next thing that's outright dangerous is not using merge lanes correctly. They are used to get your vehicle up to speed before merging into the main lanes, not to come to a dead stop at the end, and then pulling out into the main lanes. If you can't figure out this concept, then you shouldn't be driving. Eventually it will get you killed.

Unfortunately, the law is still on their side, because in most states, it's automatically your fault of you rear end someone, regardless of how stupid they are.

[Hoosier Daddy]

As a footnote to your excellent observation, AmpedNow, I might point out that "YIELD" should also be defined. It does not mean come to a complete stop, but it also does not mean push your accelerator to the floor as you exit the off ramp and and pile-drive your way into other cars who have the right-of-way. Some people don't understand that one either.

[fearpeddler]

As a footnote to your excellent observation, AmpedNow, I might point out that "YIELD" should also be defined. It does not mean come to a complete stop, but it also does not mean push your accelerator to the floor as you exit the off ramp and and pile-drive your way into other cars who have the right-of-way. Some people don't understand that one either.

.../agree

[CoolBreeze]

Here's my problem: I can stop my motorcycle OK. It's the cars behind ME that cant stop. So I wind up becoming just another dead statistic between two cars, who will come out of it just fine.... and all due to some old person who doesn't even know where they are.

In the UK and other countries, your license expires automatically at age 70. If you want to continue to drive, you must take a full exam each year thereafter. Here in the U.S., you can drive until you're 110 (or even later if you live that long) without anything more than a simple eye exam.

[Jet Black]

Besides the ubiquitous girl-with-ohone-in-ear, one of my biggest traffic irritations is people who use center turning lanes to merge into traffic instead of out of it, apparently not understanding this is both illegal and highly dangerous.

[jag]

In the UK and other countries, your license expires automatically at age 70. If you want to continue to drive, you must take a full exam each year thereafter. Here in the U.S., you can drive until you're 110 (or even later if you live that long) without anything more than a simple eye exam.

On the other end of this, one of my peeves is that getting a driver's license in this country is viewed as a birthright. Yes, every novice driver has to start someplace on the journey to becoming experienced. However, truth be known, getting a license in the US requires little more than a pulse. I mean, what...we're talking about 25 basic questions, the answers to which could be (and often are) guessed at, and a brief 'round-the-block "road test." Again, "lowest common denominator" thinking prevails. More education initially would pay great dividends in the long run.

[Big Media]

Besides the ubiquitous girl-with-ohone-in-ear, one of my biggest traffic irritations is people who use center turning lanes to merge into traffic instead of out of it, apparently not understanding this is both illegal and highly dangerous.

Dude... I do this at least 5 times per week and it is absolutely necessary. At this particular road junction, there simply is no alternative and it would be much more dangerous to attempt a left turn without using the turn lane.

[Jet Black]

Besides the ubiquitous girl-with-ohone-in-ear, one of my biggest traffic irritations is people who use center turning lanes to merge into traffic instead of out of it, apparently not understanding this is both illegal and highly dangerous.

Dude... I do this at least 5 times per week and it is absolutely necessary. At this particular road junction, there simply is no alternative and it would be much more dangerous to attempt a left turn without using the turn lane.

Then go down farther and come back up the other lane, or prepare for the eventual head-on collision. Hope you don't ram a mom on the phone with kids in back. But when it happens, I hope that little old lady is there taking pics of you with her cell phone.

[Ace Purple]

With voting power en masse and powerful organizations like the AARP on a vigilant watch, it's unlikely that we'll see much change anytime soon as far as the regulation of elderly drivers goes.

[AmpedNow]

As a footnote to your excellent observation, AmpedNow, I might point out that "YIELD" should also be defined. It does not mean come to a complete stop, but it also does not mean push your accelerator to the floor as you exit the off ramp and and pile-drive your way into other cars who have the right-of-way. Some people don't understand that one either.

This is kind of a different topic all together, but I guess it depends on whether it's "yield" or "merge". Some highway interchanges are outdated and have little or no merge lane. In that case, you have no choice but to slow down if there's a lot of oncoming traffic. This is still dangerous, and there should be more of an effort to update these interchanges with merge lanes.

However, I've seen people with plenty of lane to merge still come to a stop and yield even when they don't have to. It's not pleasant to get up to speed, slam on the brakes when you realize the car in front of you is not moving, then have to pull into 70 mph traffic from a dead stop.

"Yield" is when oncoming traffic has the right-of-way, but you don't have to stop if nobody's coming.

I am also guilty of "pile driving" my way into traffic, treating yield as a merge. But many times, this is still safer than coming to a dead stop -- esp if there is traffic behind you.