Health

Elderly Driver Mishap No Joke for Victim Pinned between Vehicles

by harringtola | February 19, 2009 at 01:34 pm

312 views | 12 Recommendations | 4 comments

At a of a grocery store in Brookline Mass (a suburb of Boston), an accident involving an 82 year old driver, Gustav Schachter, pinned a parking lot attendant between the driver's car and a Ford Exlorer.

The 29 year old victim was a parking lot attendant of Trader Joe's grocery store. He, David Franklin, was transferred to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

About 50 shoppers looked on as more than a dozen Brookline firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free Franklin, whose leg was twisted around the wheel well of the parked SUV. The dramatic rescue took about 20 minutes, and would have taken longer had even one fewer firefighter responded to the popular store at the corner of Longwood Avenue and Harvard Street, said Deputy Fire Chief Robert Ward.

Ward said the man was struck by a minivan driven by Schachter at 11:40 a.m. and pushed into the Explorer. Police say two other parked cars were also damaged by the force of the hit.

One firefighter was injured while puncturing a tire on the Explorer in an attempt to free Franklin’s leg. Ward said that while the man was screaming in pain, he was “holding it together very well.”

Three of the towns seven fire companies responded. Fire Chief Ward made note of the fact that the situation would have much worse if cost cutting measures proposed cutting the number of companies to six would have been in place.

“It’s ludicrous,” he said of the money-saving measure.

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Roy C

at 18:01 on February 19th, 2009

Stopping the elderly from driving when they can't do it well enough is politically incorrect and difficult to do.

"Discrimination!" Yes, it is, between those who can drive and those who can no longer.

harringtola

at 20:02 on February 19th, 2009

My grandmother gave up driving in her 70s on her own because due to her arthritis she did not feel her reflexes were good enough any longer. Some people can do it on their own and others need to be coached. Family members or friends should step in when they believe that there is a problem. Doctors should do the same, so that horrible tragic accidents such as this one do not happen to anyone else. The law can not do it all. There are people on the streets who are not elderly who also have impairments due to illness or medications who should not be driving. People need to take responsibility on their own as well so that we do not need a police state.

hamam böceği (not verified)

at 07:52 on March 6th, 2009

was really bad. thanks for the news: S

dea dea (not verified)

at 21:24 on March 9th, 2009

Why are not the elders being taken care of by their children they can atleast be droven around by their children or atlest they should go along with their parents

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