Man Unknowingly Drives 3 Miles with Half a Body Through His Windshield (1 Viewer)

[Jerry Almeida]

From the local news in my area.

LINK

 

[Dennis*G]

wow. All that and not charged? I feel a lawsuit pending, that's for sure.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Wow!

You've got to wonder...no matter how bad the dementia...how anyone could have been driving around and not be aware of:

1.) a body sticking through their windshield
2.) shattered glass that extends all the way over into the driver's vision.

I guess that serves to explain how severe the dementia was. Sad thing.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

It is. I work in a nursing home where a lot of residents are afflicted with Alzheimer's and dementia, and it's sometimes hard to tell the difference. Trust me, it's bad. If there's anything surprising at all, it's that the family didn't catch any warning signs of this at all.

 

[Jerry Almeida]

Just in case you had trouble with the initial link. Here's another, more in depth, story on it.

LINK

 

[MikeH1]

Whats a guy like this doing having his license?

 

[Jason Hughes]

I smell a South Park episode arising from this...

 

[PhillJones]

Suspicious?

Toll booth worker 1: 'Hey look, that guy has half a person embedded in his windshield. That can't be right can it?.'
Toll booth worker 2: 'Oh it's probably nothing. There's probably some perfectly reasonable explanation.'

 

[James T]

This reminds me of a story a few years ago where a guy drove home with his friend, decapitated. The driver never realized it until the morning when the cops showed up at his house. The difference was that that guy was drunk.

 

[PhillJones]

This is worse

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3024304.stm

 

[Scott L]

^dayum I hope she's not driving when she's 93

 

[Sami Kallio]

We've made fun of her for years here, still after several years it still is mindboggling how stupid one can be. Bite the bullet and take the lesser penalty, you're not going to get away with it. What is even more idiotic:

"Two of Ms Mallard's friends have been jailed for nine and 10 years for helping to dispose of the body."

 

[andrew markworthy]

This sounds like multi-infarct/vascular dementia which can show rather alarming deteriorating jumps (generally - though not inevitably - other dementias show a gentler progression). However, I must confess some surprise that someone with *any* signs of dementia should be allowed a driving licence. In the UK we have fairly stringent (though admittedly not infallible) and regular medical tests for drivers over seventy - don't you have the same in the USA?

A problem with stories like this is that they can fuel the 'why should old people be allowed to drive?' prejudice. [Facinating how every time some teen jackass on drugs kills someone by reckless driving we don't have a 'how can we let teens drive?' type response]. Contrary to popular prejudice, dementia is a minority experience of old age.

 

[Max Leung]

I would have that response. Although I would remove the "drugs" part. Teen jackass is enough.

I don't think teens are that bad nowadays - they all have to have warnings plastered on their cars here, and are closely monitored by everyone.

 

[Lynda-Marie]

Dementia is a horrible thing to watch, - this is just from the sidelines - whether full blown Alzheimer's or not. My adopted dad has moderate dementia coupled with almost ZERO term memory, and it is so sad to watch this proud, independent man struggle to remember what just happened five minutes ago.

Dad is stubborn, but at least he still has some common sense. He wanted to keep his car, and keep driving, but he gets distracted very easily, [making it a nightmare with him behind the wheel - not just for the passengers, but for other drivers on the road] and with his memory problems it is extremely easy for him to get lost, even in the part of town where he has lived a good many years.

He finally gave in, and refuses to drive his car anymore; 6 months ago, he went to the grocery store about 3 blocks from his apartment, and had to call my brother and me to help him get home.

 

[MarkHastings]

While I feel bad for anyone suffering with dementia (i.e. my grandmother has it bad), I also am incredibly angry that I could end up losing a loved one (like the new article) and no one would end up being responsible for it. :frowning:

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Welcome to America. Once you have a driver's license, its very hard to have it revoked. You either must A: Not pay the DMV renewal fee (which are now 8 years apart) or B: Have it revoked by a court. After you're 16th birthday you'll be able to keep your DR and never take another test as long as you live. After you die your license is valid as long as someone else keeps paying the DMV.

Since being sick isn't illegal, the court has no ground to revoke your license. Being dead doesn't terminate your driver's license!

 

[Thomas Newton]

Which can be awfully convenient in some situations. E.g., the one where you're running out of fresh brains, and want the authorities to "Send more paramedics".

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Driver's Licenses are managed by the states. The U.S. is a federal nation.

From the sound of things, the man had absolutely no problems driving, even stopping for the tolls, other than the minor inconvienence of having a body stuck throught his windshield.

 

[Thomas Newton]

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"