Man Drives Through Toll With Body on Car

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A 93-year-old driver apparently suffering from dementia fatally struck a pedestrian and drove for three miles with the man's body through his windshield, police said.

Ralph Parker was stopped after he drove through a toll booth on the Sunshine Skyway, Traffic Homicide Investigator Michael Jockers said. The toll taker called police, he said.

Parker was not likely to face charges because he did not appear to know what happened or where he was, said Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant in the Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney's Office.

``He may have somewhere in his mind have realized it was a crash, but immediately forgot about it,'' Jockers said.

The victim's leg was severed in the Wednesday night crash, police said. The man, whose name was not released, was 52.

Parker had renewed his license in 2003.

``That was the one thing he had, to get in his car and just drive for the sheer enjoyment of driving,'' Jockers said. Parker lived alone after his wife died in 1998, authorities said.
The city where I live is heavily populated by retirees, many of whom drive well past the point in life when they can see and react well enough to compete on the mean streets.

They represent a huge voting block so politicians are afraid to take on the issue, but at what point should elderly cease driving. Remember that driving represents the American dream and in many cities walking is not an option - we are a car culture - and that turning in your drivers license is one small step closer to your grave. I may have trouble resigning mine when the time comes, even though I know its the right thing to do.

Wha'dya think?

ichi