Tragedy in Bradenton today (Sarasota: 2014, to live, safety)

[BucFan]

Car backs over pedestrians killing three in Bradenton



Surprised this doesn't happen more often - fortunately it doesn't.

[wondermint2]

If you look at the graph from the following link (see below) - the number of Sarasota pedestrians killed in traffic accidents (per 100,000 population) has been much greater than the Florida average:

http://www.city-data.com/accidents/a...a-Florida.html

And I would venture a guess that the Florida average is greater than the national average. Bottom line - be very aware and cautious when out & about walking, biking, etc. in the area. And if you want to live a long life - your odds will be reduced by driving a motorcycle in this area. There are a lot of senior drivers here and their vision might not be as good as it should be. For some seniors it's harder for them to see motorcycles.

[beninfl]

She sure traveled a long distance before the car came to a complete stop. Crazy.

Even crazier that people like to hang out in parking lots in large numbers. It's playing in the street.

Not trying to imply fault, just surprised at the circumstances.

[OKCSteel]

This shouldn't surprise anyone. She was 79 and driving a very large vehicle. Anyone over 70 should have to take a drivers test yearly or every other year in the car they would typically drive. They should drive smaller cars. This should be country wide and not just in Florida.

I remember my Grandmother driving after she hit 70 and she was an awful driver. She had a large car with large doors where she would just push them open. Whatever they hit, they hit. And she ran over parking blocks and up on the curbs many times. She should not have been allowed to drive.

This is not about freedom either. This is about safety.

[wondermint2]

Good article today:

Lyons: Quick assumptions and driving skills | HeraldTribune.com

[Avalon08]

I was coming out of church tonight, after the priest had just talked about last week's tragedy. I was walking in the lot and crossed in front of a Cadillac as the elderly female driver started the engine. I thought, wow, what a risk I'm taking. What if she had lurched forward? The tragedy has really made me more mindful of steering clear, so to speak, of running vehicles in the parking lot.

I'll tell ya, I recently bought a "crossover" SUV with a back-up camera. I thought my "stiff-neck" problems were answered....but, no. The camera has a wide angle and everything looks way further away than it really is. The quality of the picture isn't that great. And the back windows are tinted dark, making it difficult to see what's back there. I should've just stuck with my little car.

[Condors55]

Not relevant to the tragedy, but I just noticed: all the people mentioned in this story are of Dutch descent.