How about fitting the old coots to bumper cars, with seat belts?
Posted on 02/03/2006 3:37:46 AM PST by irgbar-man
SOUTH PASADENA - Massage therapist Colleen Ronnberg had just left work in her Ford Mustang to drive home for lunch. She says she turned on her signal, stopped at an intersection, looked both ways and turned onto Pasadena Avenue.
But somehow her car collided with an 84-year-old woman who was riding a motorized three-wheeled scooter across Pasadena at Hibiscus Avenue. Although a sheriff's deputy later estimated that Ronnberg was driving 5 mph, the other woman was knocked out of her scooter, hit her head and died Wednesday, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.
Ronnberg is very sorry, still shaken and wishes she could turn back time. "I have to live with the fact for the rest of my life that I killed somebody." But she wishes elderly and disabled people who use these scooters, sometimes called motorized wheelchairs, would be more cautious.
The Sheriff's Office has concluded Ronnberg will not be charged in the accident, which killed Czeslawa Z. Scibora of 2960 59th St. S in Gulfport.
But for anyone who travels through the Tampa Bay area, whether in a car or in a wheelchair, it's a reminder of the dangers people in the scooters face.
"It's obviously something to watch out for," said Lt. Greg Schwemley, who heads the St. Petersburg Police Department's traffic section. "They are low-profile little vehicles, so drivers will obviously have to pay more attention" to them.
"I haven't seen any crashes come across my desk regarding those scooters," Schwemley said, and he is unaware of any similar fatalities in St. Petersburg.
But this was not the first fatal scooter accident in the area. A 91-year-old man died last year in Largo when he pulled out in his electric scooter in front of a sedan on Keene Road. In that case, the driver of the sedan was going below the posted speed limit and was not charged.
Schwemley recommended people use extra caution when driving around downtown areas and near retirement homes where the scooters seem more prevalent.
Sgt. Kenny Orrill, supervisor of the Tampa Police Department traffic unit, says it's safest for people to drive these scooters on sidewalks, and he appreciates those who put tall flags on the scooters to make them more visible when crossing streets.
But state law allows people to ride scooters on roads where the speed limit is 25 or less, on bicycle routes or on "any street or road where bicycles are permitted," Orrill said. Because bicycles are permitted on most roads, that's a hard law to enforce, he said.
People aren't required to have a driver's license to operate these vehicles, which the law defines as "electric personal assistive mobility devices."
Wednesday's accident was still weighing on Ronnberg, 37, whose only blemish on her driving record during the past seven years was a speeding ticket, records show. She canceled her appointments Thursday and stayed home.
Bruce Lutz, 60, a Salvation Army employee who witnessed the accident, said there was nothing Ronnberg could have done.
He said he saw Scibora leave a parking lot traveling fast, faster than Ronnberg's car. As Lutz saw it, Scibora hit the car. He said he had seen Scibora another time at the intersection, darting across traffic and forcing cars on Pasadena to jam their brakes to avoid hitting her. Scibora did not have a driver's license.
The last part of the article (the witness account) certainly seems to support that.
Yeah, can 84 year olds still get considered for the Darwin Awards?
I live in St. Pete. I have to say many of these older drivers are a menace. Many can't see; their reaction times are way way up and yet we issue licenses for something like 10 yrs at a time. Recently we had an older man run down a homeless guy, who was hit so hard he came THRU the windshield. The driver continued to drive around town and down towards the skyway bridge.....never realizing a man was bleeding out onto his dashboard. Finally other drivers pinned his car so he had to stop. he never knew what happened. At least once a year we have something like that happen here.
How about fitting the scoots with a whip antenna and a day-glo flag?
I'm off to work now. Y'all drive safely.
My MIL (she passed away last year) lived in a wonderful retirement center in South Pasadena. It was on the water and she had a marvelous view from her apartment.
When I was reading the article I wondered if the woman in the scooter could have been crossing the street near the retirement center, but I think Hibiscus Avenue is farther north than where my MIL lived (guess I'll have to check it out on mapquest.)
How about 6 ft tall fiberglass poles with dayglo orange banners attached.....
How about fitting the old coots to bumper cars, with seat belts?
ooops beat me..
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Seriously, this is a retirement area, and between blind, overmedicated car drivers, and wheezergeezers on their Medicare-purchased scooters, going driving in my truck resembles being in a Demolition Derby.
Many?
Your story is purely anecdotal and doesn't prove a thing. Statistically there are more older folks in your living area.
The vehicle under discussion here is the motorized scooter. These scooters can be a problem and need a set of safety standards specifically targeted to them. But that being said, acturarially the highest automobile accident rate is among the 16-25 age demographic.
Most older folks that I know are excellent drivers and aggravate the devil out of speeders when they drive the speed limit.
But you are right that testing needs to be more frequent and rigorous. Some will slip through the crack or don't know when to quit. And some are careless to a fault but no more so than with any other group of citizens.
Seems it wasn't but every two or three days we would read of a "seinor citizen", flooring the gas pedal, while in gear, and driving through some building or other stationary object.
These "scooter" folks seem to get that mall area mentality. You know, "everyone must stop for me" attitude.
The fact is, we that drive two tons of metal around the streets, need to be very watchful for those little scooters. And the kids, and the squirrels, and the dogs, and the ...
Hell, at 65, I'm getting close to the age when the wife will send me to the store and I won't be able to remember where I am, what I'm doing, or how to get back to wherever I came from.
Just can't wait! ;)
I saw the driver testing folks helping an older driver pass her vision test by letting her'try again'. Another guy had about six pairs of glasses with him and they let him test until he found the right pair. What are the odds he is going to use the right glasses while driving?
Oh, no! I hope you aren't turning into a Democrat!
My point is that, most of this presents a challenge to the exprienced driver in regard to alertness and control.
The Florida driving test does not deal with any of the contemporaneous issues, like immigrants who cannot read and learned to drive in another country, the aging population, motorized scooters, and the need for speed.
...have a happy.
But for anyone who travels through the Tampa Bay area, whether in a car or in a wheelchair, it's a reminder of the dangers people in the scooters face cause. As born out by the last statement
He said he had seen Scibora another time at the intersection, darting across traffic and forcing cars on Pasadena to jam their brakes to avoid hitting her
...fault the tester. The prospective driver wants independence freedom and dignity and is trying to deal with the system that wants to take it away.
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