Posted on 08/31/2003 11:40:10 PM PDT by Lijahsbubbe
An 88-year-old driver killed two passengers in an oncoming car at the end of a bizarre chain of crashes on Lexington Avenue near Larpenteur Avenue in Roseville on Sunday. About 12:30 p.m., the Falcon Heights woman left a Walgreens drug store and drove into two cars, over curbs, a sidewalk and bushes before stopping in traffic on the other side of Lexington, at Dionne Street. When a pedestrian asked if she was OK, she stepped on the gas again heading north across the two northbound lanes, through the two southbound lanes, onto the sidewalk and back into southbound traffic, fatally broadsiding a Chrysler New Yorker, according to police. A 90-year-old man and an 89-year-old woman, both from Roseville, were killed.
The Roseville Police Department wouldn t release the names of the 88-year-old woman or anyone else involved until family members had been notified. The drivers were treated for minor injuries at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
Horrified neighbors lingered at the scene into the evening. They looked at the pink spray paint on streets, lawns and sidewalks that investigators used to trace the S-shaped path of the 88-year-old woman s car, a Mercury Grand Marquis.
Several bystanders compared the accident to the July 16 incident in Santa Monica, Calif., in which an 86-year-old man drove through a crowded market, killing 10 people and injuring dozens more. That incident inspired national debate about older drivers.
My mother would resent this remark, but I think there should be annual written and oral tests for drivers older than 75, said Sueann Clemans of St. Paul, standing on the spot when the 88-year-old woman began her deadly drive.
They panic, and put their foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, said Clemans. Her mother is 88, Clemans said, and she s a leadfoot. She says, No one would stop an old lady in a 87 Volvo.
Was it a stroke? Did she pass out? wondered Leo Cullen, 80, who lives seven blocks from the accident. But you can t stop and then start again if you do that.
Said Cullen: Maybe we should scrutinize our drivers a little more carefully.
WHAT HAPPENED?
According to police and witnesses, here s what happened:
The 88-year-old woman picked up a prescription at Walgreens on Lexington and Dionne Street.
She backed her Grand Marquis out of its handicapped stall, then put it in drive, scraping the bumper of a parked Toyota 4Runner next to her.
Picking up speed, she arced through the parking lot and slammed into a parked but occupied SUV. The Grand Marquis hit with such force that it pushed (the SUV) right onto Lexington over a curb, a Customer Parking sign, two bushes and a sidewalk, said Roseville Police Sgt. Lorne Rosand.
The Grand Marquis crossed all four lanes of Lexington and coasted to a stop, bumping into a pedestrian-crossing sign on Dionne. A passerby came up and asked if she was OK. At that point, she hadn t seriously injured anyone.
But she didn t get out.
As several people watched, she punched the accelerator, heading north on Lexington. She swooped back across Lexington s four lanes, jumping a curb and a sidewalk and hitting two more bushes. She then swerved back into traffic, hitting the passenger side of an oncoming Chrysler New Yorker, killing the Roseville man and woman.
The driver of that car, a 66-year-old St. Paul woman, was taken to Regions Hospital with injuries police said were not life threatening.
The driver of the Grand Marquis and the occupant of the SUV that was pushed into traffic a 28-year-old St. Paul woman who is six months pregnant were also taken to Regions with minor injuries. The fetus was not injured, police said.
RECURRING DANGERS
That Roseville intersection has a history of accidents. The Walgreens driveway is directly opposite Dionne, and Walgreens eliminated about six parking places in which drivers could drive directly onto Lexington without turning.
Roseville is an old suburb, and there are lots of old people coming here for prescriptions, said Clemans. That is a lethal corner.
Of the 3.65 million licensed drivers in Minnesota, about 509,000 are 65 or older, according to the state Department of Transportation. All drivers must renew their licenses every four years. The only requirement to do so is to pass a vision test and take a new driver s license photo. In 1998, legislation was proposed to require drivers older than 70 to take a vision test every two years, but it did not pass.
In Minnesota, 719 drivers ages 70 or older died in traffic accidents from 1991 through 2002, according to Department of Public Safety data. They accounted for 16 percent of all driver deaths.
Family members, doctors and police officers can bring concerns about a driver of any age to Driver and Vehicle Services. Agents will investigate the complaint by bringing in the driver for a personal interview, which could then be followed up with tests.
Each year, about 1,800 people are interviewed in that process, and about a third of those get their licenses canceled, officials have said.
Just like the guy in Santa Monica, she kept going even after hitting things. Very strange.
Maybe, it was the drugs?
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