So Monday there was a tragedy near MIA that really got to me: a 92 year old lady hit the gas instead of brake in her SUV and hit a mother and her 7 year old daughter, who were walking out of a pharmacy.
It was, of course, and accident -- the lady was given a ticket, but nothing criminal. The Mom was hurt, but the little girl was rushed to Dr. Barry's hospital. As of this am, per the Miami PD spokesman, it appears she won't survive, or if she does, maybe it would have been better she didn't.
I got angry -- why the hell is a 92 year old driving, particularly in this era or ride sharing. Probably for what the old lady pays for her car, she could have Uber or Lyft or even the free services many cities and villages here have. In Pinecrest, we have the FreeBee, which comes to fetch you anywhere and takes you anywhere in Pinecrest. You can truly do fine without a car in Miami-Dade County now, but I'm sure plenty of stubborn old folks simply don't want to give up "their freedom."
Of course, plenty of young, particularly teens and young 20s folks, are awful drivers and cause tragedies daily. But a person needs to know when to give up the keys.
Our family came close to tragedy in 2009. My Mom was 89, and still driving, but "only close to home." She was in a parking lot indeed close to Kings Point, where she lived, and put the car into reverse instead of drive, and described a semi circle around the lot, in which she crashed into 3 separate cars.
The Big Man was watching. No people were hurt -- just some old Buicks, I assumed, dented badly. A Palm Beach Sheriff's Deputy came, and got on the phone with me. He said he was taking Mom's license. I was so relieved no one was hurt, I didn't think to protest -- indeed it was a pain getting her a Florida ID to take the place of the license.
He also gave her a ticket, and I hired a ticket lawyer who handled that. Allstate, I think, paid all the damages to the other people, and offered her fair value on her car. Her driving days were over.
Our dear friend's Dad still drives at 93 -- and lives on D2 and Jonathan's street. They joke that when they see the Jaguar a-coming, they run inside.
Personally, if the day comes when I shouldn't drive, I'll welcome it. As it is, I take Uber more and more. If there's a dinner where Wifey doesn't want to drive home -- Uber is my ticket to that nice, healthy sized second martini.
The old lady near MIA wasn't drunk. Just too damn old. May the Big Man watch over the poor little girl and her family.
No comments:
Post a Comment