Over Age Drivers in South Florida
Interesting article for your reading that I found in the Sun Sentinel. I touched on this prior at the end of the year and its what I call "Good Parking Lot" practices for drivers and pedestrians on how to avoid injury. This story is exactly what I spoke about in that previous blog.
Drivers age 80 and older in Florida don't have to take a driving test when they renew their licenses. But should they?
Two fatal accidents over the weekend may re-ignite the debate over whether the state should require older drivers to be retested and recertified in order to continue driving. A 78-year-old woman was killed Sunday when she was backed into and run over by an 89-year-old driver at a Delray Beach Walmart. In Deerfield Beach, a woman was backed over and dragged across a church lawn by an 88-year-old driver.
In the Delray Beach accident, Anita Lobel, who lived in the nearby Polo Club of Boca Raton, was walking out of the store, 16205 S. Military Trail, Sunday afternoon after returning an item, when a Mercury sedan backed up over her, her son and authorities said. The driver was 89-year-old Mary Goldberg of Delray Beach, according to Delray Beach police.
Evan Lobel, of Westchester, N.Y., said police called him around 4 p.m. about his mother's accident.
Florida consistently has high rates of senior crash deaths, mainly because it has a lot of seniors. State statistics show that 442 crash fatalities of all ages involved drivers age 65 and older in 2010, or about 15 percent of all fatal crashes.
Anne McCartt, Senior Vice President for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said one recent study suggested that requiring older seniors to renew licenses in person might cut accident rates. "But with a lot of other things, including eye tests, there is mixed evidence as to whether these measures reduce crashes," McCartt said.
In 2010, the most recent year for which statistics are available, drivers 80 and older in Florida had crash rates lower than drivers aged 15 to 34.
Data is particularly sketchy on whether road testing predicts which seniors will crash. Only Illinois now requires it. Nine other states have seniors renew in person, beginning from 69 to 75 years old. Seventeen states have no age-based licensing requirements. One of every five drivers in the Sunshine State is 65 or older, a ratio that will continue to increase as the Baby boomers age, state safety experts say. Florida has 2.75 million drivers in that age category, the second-highest in the nation. California is first, with 3.1 million drivers age 65-plus. Read more….
Situations like these where there are fatalities are considered wrongful death and the people responsible for these accidents can be held accountable. As a Fort Lauderdale attorney experienced in these types of cases I would advise that you contact our office to seek legal counsel and to ensure that your loved ones get the compensation that they rightly deserve. Contact us online or via telephone 954 431 8100 or 305 624 9186 for your FREE consultation.
