Car hits 3 children in Waynesboro

like i've always said,there needs to be a RETEST for people over a certain AGE. no offense to the elderly but it NEEDS to be done.If that was implemented in the state of PA perhaps this man might have been taken off the road sooner and this would never have taken place....prayers for the kids get well soon...

the girl has a broken back,a crushed pelvis and servers brain injuries.and you think the old man is already suffering enough.get him off the road now!!!!!

DALLAS — As his 90-year-old neighbor struggled last May to set out on a morning drive to the store, David Prager began to worry.
Elizabeth Grimes, a widow who had lived on Meaders Lane for 50 years, had backed out of her driveway, across her lawn and off the curb. Her 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis then hit the curb across the street, Prager recalls, before Grimes mistook the gas pedal for the brake and "took off with a jackrabbit start."
Six blocks away, Grimes drove through a red light. The car slammed into Katie Bolka, a 17-year-old high school junior who was driving to school to take an algebra test. Five days later, Bolka died.
The crash was emblematic of what health and safety analysts say is likely to be an increasing problem as the elderly population booms: aging drivers, clinging to the independence that cars give them but losing their ability to operate the vehicles, causing more accidents.
Fatality rates for drivers begin to climb after age 65, according to a recent study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, based on data from 1999-2004. From ages 75 to 84, the rate of about three deaths per 100 million miles driven is equal to the death rate of teenage drivers. For drivers 85 and older, the fatality rate skyrockets to nearly four times higher than that for teens.
The numbers are particularly daunting at a time when the U.S. Census Bureau projects there will be 9.6 million people 85 and older by 2030, up 73% from today. Road safety analysts predict that by 2030, when all baby boomers are at least 65, they will be responsible for 25% of all fatal crashes. In 2005, 11% of fatal crashes involved drivers that old.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-0...

Maryland conducted a study that found drivers who performed poorly on certain cognitive tests — such as following basic commands and repeating simple movements — were about 25% more likely than others to go on to cause a crash. Results of the study of 1,910 drivers ages 55 to 96 were published in January 2006 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Maryland now uses such screening on a regular basis with drivers whose actions raise concerns about their cognitive abilities.

My son was one of the 3 injured. He is doing well. His legs are bruised and scrapped up but he is ok. The other child as well only has a scrap on him. I am so thankful not more children were injured and I feel so bad for the little girl. She will recover though thank god! The man who attacked the elderly man was infact the father of the girl. I dont know what would make him go in a rage of anger after the man instead of just to his daughter I can not speak for him. I just hope and pray everyone can get over this tragedy. I know this weekend has been filled with allot of emotions and nightmares for my son and his brother, Who witnessed his brother getting hit. They are going through allot of different feelings and in time everyone will feel better hopefully and be able to work through their fears. My son cried this morning cause he didnt want to walk to school so we had to come up with a different route for them to walk. My thoughts are though that a man of 82 should not of been driving. The state needs to start checking and examining elderly peoples reflexes and abilities to drive after a certain age!

boro mom wrote:

i hope all three children have a fast recovery...my son walks this way home everyday day..he said to me last evening that he was lucky it wasnt him as he had just walked through that interscetion a few mins before..he tells me he will not walk that way home anymore..for fear of it happening again..i explained that things like that do not happen all the time and it was just a freak accident..if my son feels this way and wasnt hit..inmagine what the three children that were hit, are dealing with today...how sad...speedy recovery to all involed and thanking god that no one lost a life..to the man who went after the elderly man that hit the teens...SHAME ON YOU! it my have been one of your children ..but it was a accident..no need to grab a hold of a elderly man, dont you think he is feeling awful enough..i'm hoping you got arrested. i would have felt the same if it was my child ..but the man looked to be over 85 years old. no common sense involed their. you cant just put your hands on people..it was a accident and thats why they are called accidents...and inmagine this it wasnt a teenage driver!!!!!

to the mother:I am glad your son is doing well.this is a tradegy that will be with both your sons for a while. with the help of god and prayers, they can overcome this. god bless all of you.

Chris Siess wrote:

I know my reactions are not what they were when I 1st passed the driving test 32 years ago. On a general thought, that intersection seemed to be a pretty safe one. As far being on the road can be.
My vote for worst intersection in the area would be Orchard rd and 997.

For some reason it is a bad intersection.
Second St. & Clayton Ave.(headed east) is very bad, too.
My biggest concern as of late is the newer crosswalks in town. Several of them are just accidents waiting to happen. Two examples are the one in front of the hospital and the one on Grant St. There's no built-in advantage for the driver at all. They are VERY poorly designated.

Personally I think ALL drivers, not just elderly, should have to retake their driving test every so many years. There are many younger drivers who shouldn't be on the road as well. It's be a pain for all of us, but maybe it would make us all a little safer.

My 2 cents wrote:

Sounds as if you should be a driver's education instructor. You dont know how you are going to act during an incident or what your reactions or reaction time might be. the speed of one vehicle may have pushed the other across the walk and a momentary LOC may have been enough to delay reaction time!<quoted text>

I know at his age he shouldnt be allowed to drive a wheelchair, if someone gets that disoriented after a 5 mph fender bender and continues to run over 3 people and continue across a yard into a home, come on, he is not only old he is unable to CONTROL a vehicle, and should not be able to Drive any longer, the hell with sorry, stay off the road

Ollie wrote:

Who beats up an old man for causing a traffic accident? Stupid! Two things should happen:
1) assult charges and jail time for Mr. Baddass.
2) suspended license for elderly gent
Speedy recovery for the injured

I dont know if he is Mr. Badass or not but if you run over my child because you cant control your car I will be bad enough to whip your butt to a pulp at that moment, and the emotional outburst it will be justified, and I could care less about what the court thinks, I know you would remember the @@@ whippin for a long time

EXACTLY!!!

to the parent of 1 and rick...lets face it you may live to be 85 and still need to drive. karma is a bitch ..i would watch what i say if i was you..prayers for all the children..the ones who watched the ones involed..prayers to the drivers involed..as we all know they need it..it is a four way stop..was it the old mans turn or was it the other mans turn to go..anyone ask that...lets hold pa responsible for this..they allow these elders to have drive