Magnificent Mile Crash: Elderly Woman Cited After Driving Wrong Way, Injuring Two

CHICAGO — An 82-year-old woman has been cited with six traffic violations after a weekend accident in which she injured two pedestrians while she was allegedly driving the wrong way on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.

Chicago Police Officer John Mirabelli tells the Chicago Tribune that the woman was ticketed for driving left of center and over the median, negligent driving and disobeying a red light. She also was cited for striking the pedestrians in a crosswalk.

Mirabelli says it remains unclear why the woman was driving the wrong direction when the crash happened shortly after 5 p.m. Friday.

The victims, a 31-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man, were taken to a hospital. Their medical status was not immediately clear.

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Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com

(This version CORRECTS Corrects 'Tribute' to Tribune. APNewsNow.)

Comments

[samuraifrog37]

11:07 AM on 07/05/2011

Chicago's downtown is becoming a much more dangerous place to be...Cabs Buses old people drivers flash mobs...I'm outta here.

[MelO86]

11:27 PM on 07/04/2011

Is it really fair to site her for disobeying a red light? If she was going the wrong way, how could she have seen the light? All she would see is the back of it...

[samuraifrog37]

11:08 AM on 07/05/2011

? Street traffic lights have 4 way direction lights.

[Anne Siperek]

02:15 PM on 07/04/2011

But officer, I was only going one way....

Sorry, after a certain age, me included, we need to be tested for driving. I live in sw florida and its frightening down here! They don't have motorcycle helmet laws either. Now anywhere else, I would say thats fine, but down here, where a lot of the population can't see 10 feet in front of their cars, I say wear a helmet for that reason alone.

[samuraifrog37]

11:13 AM on 07/05/2011

THATS why I got the hell out of the kill zone known as Florida. I've gone to ALL fifty states and this is a national crises. Let's make ALL people ride Bicycles or walk.

[TXfemmom]

01:10 PM on 07/04/2011

We had an elderly couple from the Houston area, recently, who disappeared while on a drive which was to have taken 30 minutes.  They ended up in Pensacola, Florida, and the resources devoted by volunteers and the police during the time before a policeman in Florida saw their plates at a rest stop and identified them, was quite costly. 

Last week, I had an elderly gentleman make a right hand turn right across the front of my car, when he was in the left hand lane, and I was in the right hand lane.  He was totally oblivious to the mayhem he created.

[chitownfunguy]

12:40 PM on 07/04/2011

This is gonna sound probably pretty awful, but I really think that elderly people should re-take their driving test once they reach a certain age, maybe 70. My parents have (thankfully) taken away the driving licenses of my grandparents after 1 had several accidents in a short period of time (no injuries, thank god), and the other took a drive and ended up 300 miles away in the opposite direction. If driving is really a privilege, politicians would pass more reasonable laws, but they fear the senior citizens voting them out of office.

[Pam Herman]

01:35 PM on 07/04/2011

That doesn't sound awful. Age and some of the physical infirmities that go with it can affect driving ability. It makes sense to find a way to test those abilities as we age.

Of course, we can argue that younger drivers are more dangerous. Here's the CDC's take on it: http://www.cdc.gov/Motorvehiclesafety/Teen_Drivers/index.html

And here's what the CDC has to say about older drivers:
http://www.cdc.gov/Motorvehiclesafety/Older_Adult_Drivers/index.html

[Parade Keegan]

01:50 PM on 07/04/2011

I agree. When in Arizona or Florida one takes their lives in their own hands. I've seen horrendous and frightening "mature" drivers in these two states. Danger, danger.