Driver, 87, does $30,000 damage after plowing into animal hospital

[matcom]

<snip>

It took less than a second for Jewel Guthrie Moore’s foot to miss the brake. It took another for her foot to mash the accelerator pedal of her 1994 Toyota Corolla, Virginia State Police say, sending Moore and her car through the front doors of Randal Bradshaw’s Seven Hills Animal Hospital.

The 9 a.m. accident surprised employees who had just opened the Waterlick Road animal clinic and were expecting another typical day.

“She came in right through the two double doors. This left her kind of a straight shot into the waiting room,” Bradshaw said.

The 87-year-old Lynchburg resident’s Corolla just missed the receptionist desk, slowed down slightly after hitting a series of wooden cabinets and came to a stop after bumping into the back wall of the waiting room.

The shock of the collision knocked over a 50-gallon salt-water aquarium, adding a slurry of water and fish to the glass and debris already on the floor.

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[yardwork]

1. My freeper MIL just got her Florida license back

after plowing into a neighbor's house and failing the driving exam three times she finally found somebody who allowed her to pass the test. She's blind and has all kinds of health problems but she's back on the road whoo-hooo! Ain't Florida a great state?

[Canadian Socialist]

2. Am I ever glad

my mother and father are sensible people. Dad is 79 & Mum 82. Mum won't let Dad drive anymore (he had a stroke about a year ago but all better now, just reflexes not as sharp:-(), and they moved into town from their acreage so they could use transit, etc. They live in the Okanagan Valley in the interior of B.C. so highways pretty scary, especially in the winter. Took a load off of all us kids minds!

[Lady Effingbroke]

3. Look for this to happen more and more often as Americans get older.

I have driven in Florida before (Rt. 19), and it was a scary experience!

My 91-year-old grandfather lives outside of Tampa, and just had his drivers' license renewed until his 95th birthday. He is completely blind in one eye and can't see out of the other eye very well. I guess that is par for the course in Florida.

[MsFlorida]

4. another old person who shouldnt be driving

my daughter was crashed into by an 80 yr old woman on dec 6th. She was on a motorcycle on her way to class at the university. The woman never saw the kids. Our country needs to be fixed for our old people so they dont have to drive when they arent able

[Benhurst]

5. The fact that there is no decent mass transportation in most of

the United States makes it difficult for older drivers (and the states, as well) to make sensible decisions on when it is time to stop driving.

If you think it's bad now, wait until the highways are filled with geriatric Baby Boomers.

[yardwork]

6. That's true, but many people who need the public transportation

vote against higher taxes to fund it. See Florida, land of the retired and greedy.