Car Crashes Into Hanukkah Party In New York, Injuring 14

WOODMERE, N.Y. — A car slammed into a building where Orthodox Jewish families were celebrating Hanukkah on Thursday, injuring 14 people, police said.

Police said the injured ranged in age from 1 1/2 to 40, and four were hospitalized in serious condition. At least six of the injured were young children, hospital officials said.

The families from the Chabad Orthodox Jewish movement were celebrating Chanukah Wonderland, an all-day celebration with events geared for children, including a crafts corner and a Chanukah theater. Thursday was the fifth day of the eight-day Jewish festival of lights.

About 150 people were inside the building when a 78-year-old man lost control of his car and plowed through a plateglass window, Nassau County police said.

"He makes an abrupt left turn. It actually forces the car that's parked along the side of the road up onto the sidewalk," Nassau County police Lt. Kevin Smith said. "His car careens through several plateglass windows, enters the building and comes to rest after basically running over ... several people."

No charges had been filed against the driver Thursday evening, police said.

The Chanukah Wonderland event was sponsored by Chabad of the Five Towns, representing the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community on Long Island, and held in Woodmere, about 25 miles southeast of Manhattan. The community's Web site said the event would feature a Hanukkah theater and the building of menorahs and four-sided tops called dreidels out of Lego toys.

"We are doing whatever we possibly can for the families of these children during this most difficult of times and urge all people of good will to keep them in their prayers," Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, director of the Chabad of the Five Towns, said in a statement posted on the Web site.

Hanukkah commemorates the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greek empire in 165 B.C. Led by the Maccabees, the Jews drove the Greeks from Jerusalem and reclaimed the temple for religious services.

(This version CORRECTS driver's age to 78, not 76.))

Comments

[naschkatze]

I wish them all speedy and complete recovery.

[08skeptic]

Fatal accidents occur regardless of age. Last week, a 20-something was
driving back home (to Ohio and Michigan) with 3 friends/co-workers
as passengers from an Amway convention. 2 of the 4 were in the Marine
Corps Reserves. Their EB vehicle hit a patch of ice, crossed the median
on the Indiana Toll Road and hit a semi driving legally in his WB lane .
The semi driver survived, those 4 did not. Age related?

[toypiano]

What you describe is a hazard (patch of ice) added to the usual risks of driving on the highway. And it's a tragic loss of those 4, very sad. However, what elder-caused accidents tend to have in common is that there is an absence of extenuating hazards -- elder drivers tend to cause accidents under normal driving conditions.

"Fatality rates for drivers begin to climb after age 65, according to a recent study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, based on data from 1999-2004. From ages 75 to 84, the rate of about three deaths per 100 million miles driven is equal to the death rate of teenage drivers. For drivers 85 and older, the fatality rate skyrockets to nearly four times higher than that for teens.

The numbers are particularly daunting at a time when the U.S. Census Bureau projects there will be 9.6 million people 85 and older by 2030, up 73% from today. Road safety analysts predict that by 2030, when all baby boomers are at least 65, they will be responsible for 25% of all fatal crashes. In 2005, 11% of fatal crashes involved drivers that old."

From: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-02-older-drivers-usat1a_N.htm

[cloudmaker]

"No charges have been filed against the driver", the report says. But they should
be. There are far too many elderly drivers on the road who should have already
handed in their licenses. In MIami we had an elderly woman kill pedestrians
at a bus stop when she "lost control" of her car. No charges were filled. And damned
if she didn't do it again a few years later. It is not the car these elderly people lose
control of, it's themselves. Let's be tougher on senior drivers and save them from
themselves. "No charges were filled." Ridiculous.

[LMT]

How many TOO OLD drivers will be allowed to "lose control" of their cars and kill people before something is done?

[TheyCalledMeSandN]

thank god the driver was only old. it could have been an older person of a particular race or a particular religion, this story would have been spun out of control

[LDnearthesea]

If you've been to Europe, you know that they have lots of public transportation. I've seen people of all ages use it there: trains and busses, and elderly people in particular just don't seem to have or use cars. Lots of people walk too, unlike here in the USA. In the eight years of the Bushsita Regime, never, ever did I hear the two words pubic and transportation put together by the Decider in a sentence. I just read in today's San Francisco Chronicle front page that Obama wants to spend money building and adding to public transportation systems throughout the USA. It will be money well spent, there will be less cars on the road, and therefore less likely chances of something like this incident occurring, and people might actually meet people face-to-face and learn to act civil to one another, as was the case before when trolley systems existed in many cities, and people rode trains for longer distance travel instead of driving a car. Lastly, the need for oil will shrink too.

[dhinds]

My mother is 90 and decided to stop driving, not due to a diminished capacity but because she knows she's likely to be blamed for causing any accident she's may be involved in, whether she's guilty or not.

[JScott]

Santa Monica Farmers Market accident all over again (google it)

[GALLERY84]

SAD STORY , EVERYONE MUST BE CAREFUL DURING THE HOLIDAYS

[grantlingel]

once you hit 65 there should be mandatory annual driving tests.. period.
http://www.vagabondstory.com

[magneato]

Agreed.
And while we're at it, 16 is too young.

[toypiano]

Agreed.

[Chlowina]

Prayers going out to the families involved in this horrific accident.

[DMSmith]

Taking the car away from an older parent is difficult to do. We waited until he was 86 and losing his memory. It was not easy and it left him angry. But when we realized he was also confused by it, we woke up to how lucky we - and he - had been.

Please DO NOT wait as long as we did!!

[Snowball]

You're so right. My Mom is 78 and is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. She gets around town well enough, but frequently forgets where she parked and I have to go pick her up and drive around until we find her car. She'll be furious when we have to stop her from driving anymore, and the extra burden on me to get her around won't be easy. I honestly don't know how to handle it by myself.

[rubygreen]

My Dad is 86 and in better shape than most 50 year olds. I think you have to judge people individualy. Living in Fl. there are lots of people, especially the tourists and the young that are completely reckless. To the tourists - what is so different about driving in Fl. than driving in your home state?

[toypiano]

I wish our family had had the nerve to take away dad's keys. After a lifetime of stellar defensive driving, in his 70s he began to show signs of declining reflexes and decision-making abilities while driving. In his mid-70s he was the cause of a tragic accident that killed two people and seriously injured two others. It outrages me to this day because it was entirely PREVENTABLE. We saw the signs but this was back before there was public awareness of the problem and we didn't know how to handle it. Now I know: just do it.

If your family is grappling with this, here's a helpful resource:
http://www.helpwithelders.com/page/takeawaycarkeys

[rocketman69]

Is Alec Baldwin 78?

[Clare53]

Tragic. I wish all the injured a speedy recovery.

[larry278]

I'm an older person who has freed himself of the burden of driving. When my physician suggested that I stop driving, I thought of accidents like this. That induced me to give up driving. Who wants to risk killing people to go to to a drug store or a religious event? It isn't worth it.

[toypiano]

I could hug you. You are wise, Larry. I wish, I wish my dad had done this -- he would still be with us today.

[TheBoomKing]

This is why drivers older than 65 should be subjected to mandatory driving tests every three years.

Road tests and written tests.

Bolstering public transport for the elderly coupled with more exacting regulations on fitness to drive would solve the potpourri of problems caused by inattentive and and reckless drivers.

We shall have the society we deserve one day. And if you consider thoughtful regulation of society to be too Orwellian, you may find yourself hindering society's ability to perfect itself.

[friscotxmom]

Amen to that, brotha! I (semi-) joke with my husband that I can't wait to grow old because it seems that you can run over a large group of people with impugnity.

Look out outdoor markets and any other place that can hold a crowd!

[aege8th]

If yer gonna...aim for a Sarah Palin rally!

[beccasmecka]

I agree, but the AARP and other like organizations will never allow it. They have always claimed age-ism on this subject. They're a strong lobby....and strong voter block.

[MagisterLudi]

Many states already have cognitive capacity tests of one form or another. Maybe something on federal level.

[robinhood1]

I agree as well. Unfortunately, for many old people, the loss of their driver's license is almost as bad as sending them to a nursing home.

[Indubio]

I don't agree and I'm not 65. Consider how many Americans are over 65 or close to that age. We can't pay for services already mandated or judged necessary so where do you suppose we get the money and what do we sacrifice for your overreaction? I recommend requiring focused physicals for everyone attaining age 65. Most people begin having some physical examination every one/ two years after 55. Any evidence of Alzheimer's or other physical debilitating diseases should be reported to State DMV's in the same manner that blackouts/head injuries are reported. Individuals with potential debilitating diseases should be monitored and a physician should determine when a person is no longer capable of driving; the physician should be required to report this to the DMV. Of course, is a problem in that 45 million Americans lack decent healthcare and thus probably never get physicals. Rather than waste money requiring triennial DMV testing for tens of millions, lets put the money and much more where it might do some good: Universal healthcare.

[toypiano]

We can do both, and we should. Universal healthcare (preferably single-payer) AND required annual driving test for elders. The stats are very compelling for this. I educated myself about this issue after my father caused a fatal accident because his driving skills diminished in his 70s. It's a big problem that will increase with the aging boomer population. We have a chance to learn from these incidents and I hope we do.