SUAging: Senior Causes Pile-Up In Parking Lot

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

A mild case of pedal misapplication left five cars in pieces. An 86 year old woman from Cologne, Germany, vacated her parking spot. She confused gas and brake and smashed into a few cars behind her. Totally shocked, she wanted to extract herself from the scene. She did put her car in gear, mashed the gas, and slammed into a car in front of her, which ended up against a wall. Another driver was waiting for the bigger and bigger parking spot to be come available. The octogenarian slammed into that car as well. After five cars including her own were demolished, an ambulance drove the lady to a hospital.

Auto Bild withheld the makes of the cars.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Philosophil Philosophil on Apr 18, 2011

    It's probably a simple case of panic. People can do very strange things in a state of panic. So I'm curious now as to which age group has the fewest accidents (proportionately)? 40-50?

  • Zackman Zackman on Apr 18, 2011

    Any stats for 60-year-old farts like me? Hmmm...

  • Obbop Obbop on Apr 18, 2011

    "So I’m curious now as to which age group has the fewest accidents (proportionately)?" As a wild guess I opt for the 1-5 year old demographic. Sigh.......... Yeah, I am a smart a$$ but, I suppose, that's better then being a dumb a$$.

    • Philosophil Philosophil on Apr 18, 2011

      Actually, I'd be willing to bet that a 5 year old has driven a car or truck somewhere or other (put the car in gear while the parents weren't watching, or some other such thing), so I'd bet the rate of accidents for that age group is probably very high proportionate to the number of drivers (and remember, I did say "proportionately").

  • SimonAlberta SimonAlberta on Apr 18, 2011

    It is fun to take shots at old people and women...if you are a youngish guy. At the same time, it could be considered ageist and sexist if not downright pig-ignorant.

    • See 2 previous
    • Moedaman Moedaman on Apr 18, 2011

      I'm not going to pick on women drivers. But it is a fact that the older a person gets, the more diminished their physical and mental skills get. That right there should make you leary of people in their 80's driving next to you. Like I have already mentioned, make everyone take a driving test every other license renewal. Get all the bad drivers off the road, regardless of age. Although, I would expect that the majority of of 80 year olds would be removed from the roads if the law was applied without bias.

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