Slow-Motion: Car Crashes Through Bike Store

Laura September 15, 2011 at 08:06 pm

Wow - my kid was in the Mechanic's Shop!!!
Old people NEED TO GET TESTED at the DMV regularly!!!!!!!!!!!

Peter Schelden (Editor) September 15, 2011 at 08:55 pm

Thanks for the comment Laura. How did your kid describe the accident?

Dan Avery September 15, 2011 at 11:42 pm

Amazing. There was a very narrow corridor where the least amount of damage would happen and she was lucky enough to hit it dead center. The car looks like it was going fast. Was there a mechanical failure? I'm trying to figure out how one could do that from the street.

Kerry September 16, 2011 at 01:37 am

amazing video. Lucky, lucky people.

Shripathi Kamath September 16, 2011 at 10:55 pm

We need to overcome this urge for "there ought to be a law ..." based on the last unwanted event that happens. Here we have appeals for octogenarians being disallowed to drive. Or teens being disallowed to drive because some ask for a ban on octogenarians. Why? Because they crashed cars.
We did not form these laws out of the blue. We thought about them, found that we'll have an acceptable number of tragedies, and went with our rules. I am not saying that we should not reconsider them, but to do so right after a mishap with a simplistic "common sense let's ban" is rather knee-jerkish. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-16/plane-crash-Reno/50436272/1 Here's an 80 year old crashing a plane, causing deaths. Now we'll have people clamoring for bans on such people flying. When John Glenn travels into space at near that age, we call him a hero. Bush the Elder jumps out of a plane at 85+, he is brave and an inspiration. If we are to change laws, can we consider competence, and not age? And can we also consider consequences? How do those seniors get around? Do we make more public transport available? Or should they be forced to remain at home unless they have a care-taker or a family member willing? Even if they are perfectly healthy? Should we study this issue like we study whether 55 is a safe limit or is 47 better? Who should pay for it? It is a relief that no one was hurt, but the property damage is still significant.

David Huntsman September 18, 2011 at 01:15 pm

Shripathi, our public rights-of-way ("roads") are just too valuable to not have stricter testing of the motorists who desire to use them. So much effort and money is put in to maintaining a car-based system of transportation, which by its hazardous nature discourages the competition on the road (cycling). Better and more frequent testing of motorists can only be a good thing.

Shripathi Kamath September 18, 2011 at 01:30 pm

I agree, David. We can have more tests, like I said, based on competence, not age. We can *reduce* the car-based transportation by having larger (bus) public transports.
The only thing I am unsure of is the safety with senior riding bicycles.

Julie Flores September 18, 2011 at 03:51 pm

Driving down Marguerite the other day I saw an "older" gentleman riding a bike...while smoking a cigarette. It was an amusing sight.