Deerfield-News.com-Deerfield Beach, Fl-This mornings accident where an elderly driver hit the gas and not the brakes, raises once again Florida’s failure to have a mechanism in place to retest elderly drivers. We have written many times about what we call “Driving While Old”. We also need a mechanism to retest elderly drivers. I have not confirmed but was told by eyewitness accounts that the driver was 99 I am requesting the report from BSO. As the son of an 85-year-old Dad, I had to take the keys away awhile ago after driving with him and we nearly had a bad accident if not for the reflexes of the other driver.Florida has no retest mechanism for drivers who are elderly and present a danger to themselves and others. Pretty much left to family or friends to confront their elderly loved ones.The situation in Florida as a result of the number of retirees that live here means we see more and more of these types of accidents, some with tragic outcomes. Florida must institute a mechanism for retesting our elderly drivers for the interest of public safety.
Anyone who has driven our Florida roads and highways has certainly seen or been involved in a situation where an elderly driver has caused an accident or nearly caused one.
BSO Public Information Officer, Joy Oglesby has responded to our inquiry as to the details here is her reply. We stand corrected as to the drivers age which is only 89.
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Hi Howie, the report isn’t available. Here is a summary of the crash.
An 89-year-old driver was pulling into a parking spot at the plaza. The man hit the gas instead of the brake. His vehicle jumped up the curb and crashed into the glass storefront window of the post office. The driver, the sole occupant, was not injured. A male postal worker was showered with glass from the storefront window but not injured. Warmly, Joy Oglesby, Public Information Officer |
