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A motorist hits a pedestrian on 34th Street, then drives to the Sunshine Skyway with the victim stuck in the windshield.

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 20, 2005


ST. PETERSBURG - A 93-year-old motorist struck and killed a pedestrian Wednesday evening, then drove about 3 miles with the body lodged in the windshield until he was stopped at a Sunshine Skyway tollbooth.

The driver told officers he thought the body had fallen from the sky, said St. Petersburg police Officer Mike Jockers.

"He had no idea he had been involved in an accident," Jockers said. "He doesn't totally understand what happened."

The crash occurred about 8:30 p.m. when the 52-year-old pedestrian attempted to cross 34th Street S from east to west near 46th Avenue S, witnesses told police.

The pedestrian made it across two of the southbound lanes before he was hit by a 2002 Chevy Malibu, which was traveling about 45 mph, police said.

The impact severed the pedestrian's lower right leg, which remained in the street. His head and arms went through the windshield, while the rest of his body flipped up onto the roof of the car, Jockers said.

"The driver continued southbound, as the eyewitness said, like nothing happened," Jockers said.

As the car approached the toll plaza, the toll taker thought it was a prank, until he saw the blood.

When the driver stopped, the body fell into the car, Jockers said.

A veteran traffic investigator, Jockers said it was one of the most gruesome scenes he has worked.

Neither the name of the driver nor the name of the victim was released Wednesday.

The victim had been living in a motel on 34th Street S. Friends said he had been trying to get to McDonald's for a bite to eat, Jockers said.

The driver, who lives in Pinellas Park, told police that he was headed home. Pinellas Park, however, is miles in the opposite direction.

"Obviously, he was confused," Jockers said. "Incredibly confused."

The driver was taken to Bayfront Medical Center for evaluation.

He will probably not face criminal charges, as he appeared unaware that he had been involved in an accident, Jockers said.

Old people should not be driving.

They should make people start taking drivers tests to renew their licence every 10 or so years. I bet alot wouldn't get renewed.

He will probably not face criminal charges, as he appeared unaware that he had been involved in an accident, Jockers said.

WHAT THE FUCK.

Umm if he was that confused, maybe he shouldn't be getting help. You never know when the next body will fall from the sky.

Tuggan wrote:

He will probably not face criminal charges, as he appeared unaware that he had been involved in an accident, Jockers said.

WHAT THE FUCK.

Just remember that if you ever hit someone while driving. Oh officer.... I was unaware.....

From Associated Press:

SYDNEY, Australia Oct 21, 2005 — A traffic warden slapped a parking ticket on a car which had its dead driver slumped at the wheel outside an Australian shopping mall, an official said Friday.

The body of the 71-year-old man, whose identity was not immediately released, was discovered Thursday in a parking lot in the southern city of Melbourne, The Age newspaper reported Friday.

The man had been reported missing nine days earlier and was known to be seriously ill, the newspaper said.

Nevertheless, a parking officer who inspected the vehicle failed to notice the man inside and issued the parking fine two days before his body was discovered.

Paul Denham, the mayor of Maroondah council, where the man was found, said the parking officer was "distressed" to learn that the dead man had been inside the car.

"Our local laws officer checked and wrote out the ticket at the rear of the vehicle and placed the ticket from the passenger side on the windscreen," Denham said in a statement. "The local laws officer did not notice anything unusual regarding the vehicle, and is extremely distressed to have learned of the situation."

I know that area of St. Pete, I bet the pedestrian was black and the driver did not see him.

10 points for the old man

OuchyFish wrote:10 points for the old man

Senior citizens are 100 points.

That reminds me, does anyone remember that movie set in the future with crazy autos like 78 camaros with razors welded to the sides? Deathrace 3000 or something. I want that on DVD now that I think of it. What a terrific concept for a movie!

Eziekial wrote:That reminds me, does anyone remember that movie set in the future with crazy autos like 78 camaros with razors welded to the sides? Deathrace 3000 or something. I want that on DVD now that I think of it. What a terrific concept for a movie!

Death Race 2000 from 1975 with David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. It was directed by Paul Bartel. I love that movie.

Awesome thanks!

SCORE!

lol

Women shouldn't be allowed to drive anything larger than a Honda Civic. Old people shouldn't be allowed to drive at all.

I agree that people above a certain age should be forced to take mandatory on-road driving tests. The problem is, with the power of the AARP, it will never go through, as they scream age discrimination and threaten voting out any politician who supports such a measure. Fucked up, but there you have it.

One of my grandmothers was not QUITE that bad, but one time coming home at night from Bingo (yeah, she loved bingo, don't ask me why) she hit several parked cars, and wasn't even aware of it, we only knew about it cause one side of her car was beat to hell. After that, we never let her drive again, no matter how much she complained. If she needed to go somewhere, one of my parents drove her, or I did once I got old enough to have a driver's license.

-Arlos

You said it in your second paragraph. We don't need a law. We need people to be responsible for their own. Believe me the day I'm taking the keys away from my Dad is coming soon, and I'm not looking forward to it, but I don't need the government to do it for me.

haha, get this - about 10 minutes after reading this thread i left the house to pick up something from the hardware store and witnessed an old man in a caddy run a stop sign and plow into someone. average day around here.

palm beach, fl

In Sun City, Arizona, which is a housing area near Phoenix, the MINIMUM age to be allowed to live there is 55. State utility and road workers actually get hazard pay for time they spend in the area. They used to actually lose people who were the top man for crews working in manholes, as drivers would just plow into them. Finally, they took to parking 3-4 of those really big road repair trucks in a row in front of the manhole, to a) be really f'ing obvious, and b) to be armor (just 1 truck might get pushed over the hole or into the guy, 3-4 has enough mass to not do so). And even with the size of the trucks (and the fact that they're painted bright orange) they regularly lose several a year as the geriatric drivers plow into them unawares. This has been going on since the 70s.

Minrott, while I agree it'd be nice if every family was responsible enough to keep their elderly relations from driving, that's nowhere near the case. Many of the old folks live hundreds or thousands of miles away from their kids, or live on their own even nearby and can ignore any request to stop driving from relatives.

Honestly, it's simply a safety matter. They don't let kids under 16 drive cause they're unsafe, once people hit 60 they should start making them take tests to make sure they're still safe.

-Arlos