Russell Kerr, 92, stars in a video that has now gone viral. Unfortunately, the performance is far from flattering. The 92-year-old Wisconsin man is shown in the video below pulling out of his parking space and crashing into nine or ten cars. Police have decided that Kerr will not be charged after concluding that he got his foot stuck in the accelerator. Fortunately, no one including Kerr was hurt.
The accidents in Mayville near Milwaukee were not the result of criminal conduct, even recklessness, in the judgment of the police. I would however dearly love to be on the call of Kerr to his insurance companies when he gets to the part of explaining that it was not one but ten cars and no they were hit separately with a 60 second interval.
Notably, Wisconsin is one of the states that does not have a special provision for elderly drivers in terms of testing or shorter licensing periods.
Source: Fox
Nick:
“But, there has to be more frequent assessment for elderly drivers. Putting the entire onus on an older person’s children to take driving away from that parent is not fair. The State has to be an ally, and they need to also make it fair. Sometimes, kids want to take dad’s driving privileges because they want dad’s car.”
Very true. Simply testing elderly drivers more frequently would be fair, in that they can keep their license as long as they can pass the test. Some people still drive great at 92, others not so much. It was heartbreaking for my parents to convince my grandfather not to drive after his accident, and it made them feel guilty. Just having a driving test happen more frequently for the elderly, or be triggered by an accident, could make the experience more equitable. It would avoid situations where some elderly drivers don’t have family to asses their driving.
Isaac – we had to do the same thing with my Grandpa. He found it depressing to lose the freedom of driving and have to depend on others for rides. He said he suddenly felt “old”. But it was necessary.
I, too, would like to see young drivers get a better driving class than our own Drivers Ed. Occasionally you can find private defensive driving or obstacle courses, but it would be beneficial to improve the Drivers Ed class required by the DMV. I worry because we have a little boy, and boys always seem to want to race and think they’re invincible. When he’s old enough to drive, I’m going to give him something with great airbags and not very fast. I don’t understand parents who give their teenage boys souped up cars.
Thank goodness no one was hurt.
Is he going to keep his license?
The time came when us kids had to convince Dad to stop driving. He was missing stuff and when he was driving and one of us was a passenger it was a crap shoot. The argument went something like this. The cost of the car, insurance, gas, etc versus the cost of cabs, shuttles, car pooling, etc is not much different. After a bit of organizing: schedules, cell phone, speed dial numbers, etc it went OK. It is tough but what’s tougher is someone getting killed.
In France when anyone wants to get a license, they have to take a two week 80hr driving course and pass a rigorous set of exams. I’m not sure of how the statistics compare but it seems like it might bring down the accident level of younger drivers. There are rights and then there are responsibilities. Caught DUI one year suspension, caught texting one year suspension, etc.
1. My source was NHTSA (http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/olddrive/pub/Chapter1.html)
2. Young drivers have way more accidents than older drivers in their first 1-2 years of driving.
3. That’s the problem. Young drivers are on the learning curve. They get better.
4. Old drivers are on the decline, the ‘forgetting curve’. They are worsening.
That’s my point. No one wants to tell 92 year old men to stop driving until this happens, or they kill someone. And they always point to the data on 16 year olds. And this is part of why I got out of the geriatrics biz.
Not sure where Pogo got those graphs, but this (https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/OlderDriverRisk%20FINAL.pdf) confirms that drivers under 25 are far more dangerous than those over 85.
Pogo, Great point. You docs also have the onus put on you guys. Although docs can provide valuable info, to have them be the arbiter is not fair either.
We had a brief discussion about elderly drivers on the WW2 thread. I defended the 90 year olds, saying what Ed just said. Having investigated auto accidents vis a vis civil lawsuits, hands down very young drivers are more dangerous. Wisconsin is where I work and it is indeed a state w/o the needed requirements of testing for elderly drivers. Taking away a person’s ability to drive is a big deal. Driving is independence and freedom, particularly for the elderly. But, there has to be more frequent assessment for elderly drivers. Putting the entire onus on an older person’s children to take driving away from that parent is not fair. The State has to be an ally, and they need to also make it fair. Sometimes, kids want to take dad’s driving privileges because they want dad’s car.
Wonder if this old fart was an AARP card carrier and insured with a good driving record…$450 in savings! In case of accident, will mow lawn and walk dog included.
Pogo, the chart you provided actually shows that young people (15-19) have a far higher accident rate (crashes) on a per mile basis compared to the elderly.
Wisconsin does not have an age-discriminatory license policy because “age alone is not sufficient” to determine that a driver is unsafe. Instead, the state reexamines drivers when there is good cause to believe that a driver is incompetent or not qualified, i.e., when a driver is reported to the DOT by a law enforcement officer or a member of the public.
http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/drivers/medical/law-enforcement.htm
Thus, in Wisconsin, Bob Simon’s 44-year-old driver with 9 suspensions and numerous complaints from colleagues about his erratic driving would have been retested had his coworkers filed a complaint with the DMV instead of with their company.
No street car engine can overcome the power of the car brakes.
Try it. Press down on your brake pedal and then press down on the accelerator- the engine will strain and the car will lurch, but it won’t go anywhere.
Mr. Kerr panicked and did not react properly to an emergency. Grounds to lose his license.
I understand the old people lobby is powerful, but seriously there needs to be yearly testing after age 70.
Most of elder MVA fatalities are themselves.
“However, drivers older than 60 years of age show increasing fatality rates, indicating that older drivers suffer more serious injuries in crashes than do younger drivers.”
This increase in driver fragility with age is seen by plotting the rate of fatalities per crash by age, as shown in the second figure above.
State driver’s licensing officials have often refused to accept the responsibility for impaired elderly drivers.
1. it’s a political football. No one wants to raise the issue.
2. The elders say that young people have similar accident rates (untrue on a per mile basis).
3. There is no option for many people other than personal cars. (It’s 4 below zero this morning here; imagine being 92 and waiting for a bus).
4. This is not a medical disorder, but doctors are often asked if people can drive. I have sent letters to the State that were ignored (demented drivers), and I was threatened by an older man (with a gun) for reporting his Alzheimer’s disease to the State.
5. There is no reliable test for elder impairment in driving. Alzheimer’s patients may be fine taking the test and passing it in the AM, but be completely confused at sundown.
Ultimately, the self-driving car is needed.
Remove the unsafe driver, but keep the independence.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/olddrive/Figure6.gif
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/olddrive/Figure8.gif
itchin,
I’m thinking lead foot. On the gas pedal that is.
I agree with DavidM. His insurance company should cancel his policy. His foot needs to be analyzed. If his foot is incompetent then he needs a walker. If he needs a walker do not assign him a scott walker. He will end up bald before his time.
How can they not see at least negligence here? The guy can shift from forward, to reverse, to forward, but he can’t shift it into park?
No charges!?!? I don’t want them to throw the book at the guy, but he needs his license pulled before he does that to a group of kids….which has happened in the news more than a few times.
Frankly, I think he was just got frustrated and said ” f*** it, I’m 92. What are they going to do to me?” I know that is what my 91 year old father said to me after he accidentally hit a parked police car with the officer sitting in it…