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Geoffrey Lederman, 85, hit the accelerator of his vintage Mercedes sportscar instead of the brake and careered onto the pavement on the wrong side of the road at 54mph.
does prompt the question whether we'd all be safer if people over a certain age had to prove they were still competent enough to drive a car,
the answer seems a little obvious really..
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does prompt the question whether we'd all be safer if people over a certain age had to prove they were still competent enough to drive a car,
the answer seems a little obvious really..
Minus the ageism, it's an old and oft-repeated demand--mandatory periodic driver re-testing for drivers of any age. FWIW, the main drivers who put people at risk tend to be younger, more reckless people (part of the reason why the very occasional failings by elderly people often make the news is because they are comparatively rare).
Oliver Schick
This is one of those crash stories that really stays with you, not least because of the behaviour of the guilty party and how the story demonstrates the sense of entitlement that is often behind not only mistakes but also routine driving behaviour--have a look at the map where his home in Hamilton Terrace is in relation to the crash site. I don't know if he's disabled and unable to walk or to use the bus, but it's known that many people drive distances like this in London. I'd say some slight semblance of justice was served (at least compared to other cases where the perpetrator walks free).
I can't for the life of me really imagine what it must be like to be so unlucky as to be in a crash like this and die or lose an eye. The thought alone turns your stomach. Life isn't perfect and we must accept a certain level of risk, but not random, pointless, and entirely avoidable risk like this.