Holy Crap

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Rob2020

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Oct 2, 2020
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ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - A car crashed into a house in south St. Louis County, killing the driver, Tuesday.

The accident occurred just before 2:30 p.m. on Kingston Drive near Telegraph. The day after the crash, St. Louis County police said the driver who was killed was a 73-year-old woman. Her name has not been released.

A neighbor provided News 4 with a video of the incident. The video showed the car going airborne and then crashing into the home.

Video at link

Youtube
 
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Rob2020 said:
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - A car crashed into a house in south St. Louis County, killing the driver, Tuesday.

The accident occurred just before 2:30 p.m. on Kingston Drive near Telegraph. The day after the crash, St. Louis County police said the driver who was killed was a 73-year-old woman. Her name has not been released.

A neighbor provided News 4 with a video of the incident. The video showed the car going airborne and then crashing into the home.

Video at link

Youtube
Click to expand...
Wow. That car was going so fast it looked like the video was sped up. :oops:
 
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I'll bet she had a critical medical event that jammed her foot to the floor.

Circa 1996 when I was in CA an elderly man (now MY age!) was in a Ford Explorer, stopped in traffic, when he had an event ( a heart attack, IIRC) which caused him to jam his foot on the gas; sitting only 6 ft. back he hit the car in front of him and that pushed that car into the next and so on....when I drive by about 100 feet away there was a H-U-G-E pillar of tire smoke going up and dissipating over the area and the right rear wheel was still churning like crazy. There was big pile of rubber on the pavement behind the tire. Fire and Rescue, police, etc, got there shortly after that. I was that city's Traffic Signal and Lighting Supervisor so I found out quickly what had gone on with the man.

The next day after the smoke had cleared (literally) and the damage cleared I looked where his vehicle had been and there was a strip of blacktop about a foot long and the width of a tire that was burnt, glossy and sticky where it had been so hot that it brought the tar and other paving components to the top.

The only positive thing about this particular accident was that he was stopped and trapped behind several cars, otherwise there could have been going extremely fast like in the above video and so the outcome worse than one fatality.
 
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I've had relatives on my mother's side of the family drive into their 90s. Great aunt was 95 when she couldn't find her way back to her nursing home to a cop had her follow him. She had a massive stroke 8 hours later.

My grandmother drove until 93 when she had her second accident because "they brakes weren't working". The second accident, she drover her car into the wall leading down to her underground parking.

My father is 90 and still insists on driving. And he was the most critical of my mom's side driving at the same age. Go figure. Everyone considers themselves the best driver on the road.

Should there be a hard cut-off age for driving? It's something to consider when we see accidents like this.
 
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These pictures are from the google maps link. The first picture is looking down what would have been the path of the car while in the air. The back of the speed limit sign seen in the video can be seen in this picture just to the left of the garbage can. The edge of that first lawn looks like it would make a good ramp. The second picture is 180 from the first picture. If a car traveled down that hill at a high rate of speed and didn't turn, they would hit that lawn.

Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 12.10.05 PM.pngScreenshot 2023-07-21 at 12.10.22 PM.png
 
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TonyR said:
I'll bet she had a critical medical event that jammed her foot to the floor.

Circa 1996 when I was in CA an elderly man (now MY age!) was in a Ford Explorer, stopped in traffic, when he had an event ( a heart attack, IIRC) which caused him to jam his foot on the gas; sitting only 6 ft. back he hit the car in front of him and that pushed that car into the next and so on....when I drive by about 100 feet away there was a H-U-G-E pillar of tire smoke going up and dissipating over the area and the right rear wheel was still churning like crazy. There was big pile of rubber on the pavement behind the tire. Fire and Rescue, police, etc, got there shortly after that. I was that city's Traffic Signal and Lighting Supervisor so I found out quickly what had gone on with the man.

The next day after the smoke had cleared (literally) and the damage cleared I looked where his vehicle had been and there was a strip of blacktop about a foot long and the width of a tire that was burnt, glossy and sticky where it had been so hot that it brought the tar and other paving components to the top.

The only positive thing about this particular accident was that he was stopped and trapped behind several cars, otherwise there could have been going extremely fast like in the above video and so the outcome worse than one fatality.
Click to expand...

This same thing happened to my uncle a number of years ago... He was the one who had the full arrest with his foot on the pedal.
 
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fenderman said:
Absolutely not. By that logic we should ban male drivers under 25 who are statistically much more dangerous.
Click to expand...

I can see your point of view. But driving dangerously, as male drivers under 25 are known to do, is a cognitive decision. Dangerous driving because of a lack of mental faculties, sudden health crisis, etc are not. Unfortunately, the elderly are more prone to the latter.

Doctors regularly have people's driver's licences suspended because of known medical conditions. As we age, our reflexes slow and the chance of a medical situation greatly increases as we've seen in the video.
 
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CanCuba said:
I can see your point of view. But driving dangerously, as male drivers under 25 are known to do, is a cognitive decision. Dangerous driving because of a lack of mental faculties, sudden health crisis, etc are not. Unfortunately, the elderly are more prone to the latter.

Doctors regularly have people's driver's licences suspended because of known medical conditions. As we age, our reflexes slow and the chance of a medical situation greatly increases as we've seen in the video.
Click to expand...
I dont know that the reason for the increase in accidents is relevant, however, if it is, then there is more reason to allow young drivers to drive if they are driving recklessly intentionally. The bottom line is the number of accidents caused by a sudden health issue in elderly drivers are extremely low and statistically irrelevant. Certainly, in my book, not a reason to stop millions of elderly drivers from getting behind the wheel. I am way more concerned about the millions of cars on the road that are not road worthy. They are allowed on the street because many states do not have regular safety inspections. They limit inspections to emission systems.
 
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I suspect I'll live to see these types of accidents become extremely rare due to automated braking and other safety systems that are sure to become required standard equipment (like ABS, airbags, etc).

My grandfather was absolutely a risk to himself and the public, and I told him he needed to make it a priority to get a vehicle with automatic braking. He got a Chevy Colorado 4x4 instead. He only lived a few more months, but I'd hate to think of the wrecks he'd have gotten into if he were still driving today.
 
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redpoint5 said:
I suspect I'll live to see these types of accidents become extremely rare due to automated braking and other safety systems that are sure to become required standard equipment (like ABS, airbags, etc).

My grandfather was absolutely a risk to himself and the public, and I told him he needed to make it a priority to get a vehicle with automatic braking. He got a Chevy Colorado 4x4 instead. He only lived a few more months, but I'd hate to think of the wrecks he'd have gotten into if he were still driving today.
Click to expand...

People are predicting that with an aging population and self-driving vehicles, it won't be uncommon to find a deceased person in a vehicle when it arrives at its destination.
 
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I drive a 45-foot Class A diesel motorhome pulling a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Back in 2015 I went to my first motorhome rally in Indiana. The couple that parked across from me were quite old. They had a 40 footer and not towing a car. She got out to guide him into the parking spot. After a couple of back and forths, they were parked. She then opened a basement door and pulled out a walker, placing it at the bottom of the steps. He came out and used the walker to slowly walk down the road. About 15 minutes later, he returns driving his Jeep Rubicon that they had disconnected at the arrival area. He used the walker to go from the Jeep to the motorhome.

This couple were in their late 80's. I talked to them a bit. Very nice folks. He was in the Navy during WWII. She does not drive, though she walks just fine without a walker. He was very unsteady on his feet, but did all of the driving.

I will be in that age range in about 15 years. I doubt if I will still be driving our motorhome then. Probably will not still be alive then either.
 
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