97 Year Old Driver Hits and Kills Pedestrian
Prosecutors in Fukushima have indicted a 97 year old man on a charge of dangerous driving resulting in death and injury after he hit a woman pedestrian and three other cars last month. The woman pedestrian died and four people in the vehicles were injured.
Kuniyoshi Namishio was driving at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour with no signs of the brakes being used, when he lost control of his minivehicle about 4:45 pm on November 19th. The vehicle hit Hitomi Kawamura, 42, on the sidewalk, then crashed into three other vehicles waiting at the traffic lights. Ms. Kawamura died at the hospital and four other women sustained injuries.
It was reported that Mr. Namishio did not show any problems on dementia tests when he last renewed his drivers license.
This story leaves me with so many questions. How old is too old to get a drivers license? Were there any other tests besides dementia tests? Were there any other transportation options for this man? Does this man have any family or friends who could have helped him with transportation in order to prevent this? If this man is convicted, what would the punishment be for a 97 year old? This is a terrible tragedy and I hope something can be done to prevent future crashes involving elderly drivers. What do you think about this?
5 comments:
You ask many of the questions I do. I know no one likes to stop driving and yet the wise know when it is time and relinquish the keys with a degree of grace. (Usually) I feel for everyone in this story -- most certainly the family of the victim but also for the man. If all he took was a dementia test, well, that isn't enough. Seems like a vision test, reflexes and more IF they don't have an age cut-off. It's terribly sad.
I was very relieved when my father voluntarily stopped driving. I had been worried for years that he would be in a serious accident and hurt someone, but he was so independent he did not want to stop driving. He couldn't see that his skills had deteriorated. I had been contemplating reporting him to the licencing body so that they could call him in for a test, but I didn't need to in the end. I'm not sure exactly what made him decide to stop, but I'm very glad no-one was hurt before he did give up.
I wonder where in Fukushima the man lives. Public transport in rural and semi-rural areas is poor and the only option for the elderly is to drive themselves. Politicians on both national and local levels will have to solve this problem!
The story is sad for everyone involved.
Prisons in Japan are full of elderly convicts, people who have been given life sentences of course have to stay locked up until they die there. That means that many cell blocks have become 'nursing homes', causing lots of problems with diaper changing, feeding of pureed food and pushing around wheelchairs.
I guess if this 97-year-old man is convicted, he will be given a suspended sentence and stay at home under the care of family members.
Happy New Year Pamela: I am so sorry this happened, I think as we age, we need to be evaluated yearly for driving, my Mother gave up her car to us after she turned 80, she was a good driver but did not want to chance anything at her age, sadly she passed away six years ago.
Prayers sent to the grieving families.
Catherine
I was going to say I know way too many aging people (mostly men...one can make of that what one will) who refuse to admit they are no longer fit to drive. But then you raise some valid questions - what if he didn't have a lot of options to get around?
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