Should older adults drive? That was the question asked by the family of Jacinta, a 5-month-old baby who was run over in Lo Barnechea in August. Given this, a road safety expert responded to one of the factors that could have caused the accident where he indicated that situations should not be generalized, since only 1% of accidents are carried out by people over 65 years of age in Chile.
On the afternoon of Sunday, August 28, Jacinta González Schnitzer -a baby of only 5 months- he died after being hit while she was being driven by her young parents in the commune of Lo BarnecheaMetropolitan region.
The driver of the vehicle, Hernán Fernández Carrasco (80), declared that “he took the wrong pedal and stepped on the accelerator”, according to the East Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office.
Liza Lucero, the family’s lawyer, comments that Fernández “was in a Mercedes Benz, which has a gross weight of almost 3 tons, and is capable of reaching 100 kilometers in a few seconds. All this power in an 80-year-old person.”
“One wonders if an 80-year-old person is qualified to drive a car of this power, which with that weight and engine is a real missile.. We wonder if no one in her environment noticed her, because she is an elderly person with various pathologies, “adds the lawyer.
On the other hand, “this is a person who is used to driving at high speed, since during the formalization hearing, the Prosecutor also revealed that Mr. Hernán Fernández had several speeding violations on your driver’s resume”.
Point to negligence due to speeding
Along the same lines, the family’s lawyer questioned the accused. “The sum of all these actions means that Mr. Fernández has acted with an inexcusable level of negligence. Is an 80-year-old with his clearly diminished physical capabilities capable of driving this true race car?” she said.
Under Chilean law, a minimum age is established to drive vehicles, but technically there is no maximum age to do so.
Alberto Escobar, an expert in road safety at the Automobile Club, explains that drivers’ responsibilities should be individualized and not generalized. “We cannot put all 80-year-olds in the same bag (…) The legislation in Chile does not prohibit older people from having a license, but these can be restricted (for example, a new exam can be requested) for 6 months, 1, 2, 3 years, that only one daytime driving, or that they do not drive on unidirectional roads”.
In addition, he pointed out that during the “pandemic, driver’s licenses were extended, so the accused had an expired license, that is, in the case of the accused,” which is ultimately counterproductive for the control of people’s licenses.
Only 1% of road accidents are carried out by older adults
According to the expert, only one 1% of road accidents in Chile were caused by an elderly driverwhile motorists, between the ages of 35 and 55, are the ones who are involved in the most accidents.
It should be noted that due to the extension of the validity of driver’s licenses, there is no specific figure on how many people in Chile have their active license, so the Automobile Club calls the municipalities to carry out the process.
To conclude, the attorney for the Jacinta Case stated that “we call on Chilean legislators and families to become part of a bill that puts greater health checks to renew driver’s license from 65 years onwards”.