Car Slams into students & parents at elementary

[dev22]

Car lost control and jumped the curb in Los Angeles. 8 hurt, 6 critically. Breaking news.

abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8791403

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A vehicle jumped a curb and slammed into several students and adults at 53rd and Main streets in South Los Angeles.


The accident happened outside Main Street Elementary School just before 3 p.m.

Eight people were injured, six of them seriously, according to the fire department. At least some of the victims were children.

DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available.

[ttt]

A 101 year old driver?

[ttt]

Preston Carter, 101, says he was just backing out of a parking lot to go home at the time of the accident.

"I lost control of the car. The brakes failed, I think," he said. "I'm sorry."

It's unclear if Carter will face charges for the accident.

[dev22]

Something tells me the brakes didn't fail.

[basilosaurus]

Aug 29, 2012 18:31:01 GMT -5 dev22 said:

Something tells me the brakes didn't fail.

They didn't, but I bet the gas pedal was working just fine.

[cc]

A 3rd grader was hit by a car on her way to school this morning when she was riding her bike. It was right around the corner for us and the person who hit her didn't stop at the stop sign. She is going to be OK, thank goodness.

[marie427]

OMG that is awful.

[druidp]

It's sad for everyone - please let no one die or be hurt long-term from this. I can't imagine being on either side of this scenario.

[msmerymac]

LA had a similar incident where a really old driver plowed into a popular farmer's market maybe like 10 years ago? He was charged. With manslaughter, I think? He killed 10 people and injured 63.

ETA: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Russell_Weller

[druidp]

I remember that msmerymac - it was horrible.

[ttt]

It happens every so often:

www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-02-older-drivers-usat1a_N.htm

But, much like mass shootings which shock everyone for ten minutes and lead to absolutely no changes that might prevent them, there are too many powerful interest groups that don't want to see any restrictions on elderly drivers. So elderly drivers continue to get carte blanche and every so often, a bunch of people get killed as a result.

www.nbcmiami.com/news/Elderly-Driver-Strikes-Kills-Fellow-Churchgoer-in-Deerfield-Beach-143295396.html

www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2012/08/elderly_driver_strikes_bevy_of.html

www.christianpost.com/news/ohio-car-accident-elderly-driver-kills-3-students-70793/

sanrafael.patch.com/articles/elderly-driver-kills-pedestrian

articles.nydailynews.com/2012-05-31/news/31931296_1_pedestrian-elderly-driver-parallel-park

tonawandas.wgrz.com/news/news/67512-elderly-driver-kills-three-i-190s-head-crash

Those are just a few from 2012.

[IIOY]

Don't get me started on elderly drivers. I deal with them all day long around here and they are worse than any teenage driver.

Also, and a slightly OT, my neighborhood has a problem with people backing out of their driveway far too quickly. My son was nearly run over by one of these people and I've nearly been hit multiple times by folks doing this as I drive down the street. In fact, this happened just yesterday. I cannot for the life of me figure out what people are thinking by backing out so quickly. Any time savings is absolutely minuscule, and the potential danger in a neighborhood full of kids is massive.