a sad day in LA today

[dontlookdown]

i was at the farmer's market with my kid when it happened.
luckily i was out of harms' way and got to the car before santa monica was basically shut down.

i thought about the band later today and realized that they were still in town. I wondered if they would mention it at all at the show tonight at the Pond.


I hope that no fans or band crew members were hurt today....

[WednesdaysChild]

Um, could you enlighten the rest of us please? I'm curious to know what you are talking about...

[silversprings8]

I just left Santa Monica at 8 this morning to come back to Toronto. I'd also like to know what happened???

[jwys_soapbox]

Ithink this is what dontlookdown is talking about...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...arket_accident

John

[gldstwmn]

You can read about it here:

http://www.cnn.com/

Glad you're alright dontlookdown.

[Jason T.]

First Celia Cruz, and now this.........

[DownOnRodeo]

This was clearly just a terrible accident. It's hard to know who is worse off between that poor driver and the victims and their families. I guess there's no scoreboard for grief anyway.
Just as well that intelligent man was there to ward off the crowd that wanted to beat the old driver up.
Also makes me wonder what would have happened if it had been an old man but of Middle Eastern (read: terrorist) appearance??

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

Oh my god! How awful!

Pip

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

Originally posted by dontlookdown
i was at the farmer's market with my kid when it happened.
luckily i was out of harms' way and got to the car before santa monica was basically shut down.

i thought about the band later today and realized that they were still in town. I wondered if they would mention it at all at the show tonight at the Pond.


I hope that no fans or band crew members were hurt today....

Glad to hear you and your child are ok

Pip

[wondergirl9847]

What a horrific tragedy.

My theory, the man was driving down the street, and it didn't occur to him that the market was there, he just drove normally and then, when he saw the people/market, it hit him but it was too late, he panicked and got confused, hit the gas pedal and it just happened. When people get to be in their 80's, their minds don't react as quickly as a younger person would....it's just a terrible accident. I think people were enraged and when you are enraged, you don't think before you do something, that's why they wanted to beat the old man up.

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

Originally posted by wondergirl9847
What a horrific tragedy.

When people get to be in their 80's, their minds don't react as quickly as a younger person would....

My father in law had to stop driving in his late 70's as his reactions weren't as sharp and he caused a few accidents. It was sad for him to lose his independence but he had to be off the roads

Pip

[Cammie]

GOD BE WITH all the Victims and their
Families!!! What a shame...did he have
a heart attack perhaps? Very sad news!
Hope all band and crew are safe and very
glad you and your child are safe! Cammie

[WednesdaysChild]

That's why I'm all about mandatory re-testing every few years once you hit 65/70. It's just not safe. And, making the driving age 18 in the states. I'm 23 and I know I was ready to drive at 16 but some of my friends were not. Kids fool around.

[wondergirl9847]

Originally posted by WednesdaysChild
And, making the driving age 18 in the states. I'm 23 and I know I was ready to drive at 16 but some of my friends were not. Kids fool around.

I don't drive...(insert laugh here) because frankly, I HATE it, I DESPISE it, plus, I work at home now, and don't like people and don't like to get out in the heat, and really and truly, I think I'm a 60 year old woman and not a 27 year old. LOL

Anywho....I agree, letting kids get licenses at 14-15-16 years old is a VERY bad idea...even if they ARE good drivers, it's too young, IMO. My cousins (all of them on my dad's side of the family) had accidents when they were 16 years old.

[strandinthewind]

The issue of raising the driving age has come up before. The main argument against it is that many kids 15-18 work on farms and, therefore, have to be able to drive to do the work. Similarly, alot of other kids 15-18 need a car to get to work; remember public transportation is pretty much a big city thing. So, while I agree something should be done (perhaps more education ?) I think they will never raise the driving age to 18 for these reasons.