DMV gives tips on how to talk to seniors about driving
State officials have determined that the woman who drove onto the Third Street Promenade last month isn’t competent to drive.
The Department of Motor Vehicles has suspended the woman’s drivers license indefinitely, police said. The 67-year-old woman, who hasn’t been identified because she wasn’t cited by police, drove her car down Santa Monica’s pedestrian mall on Aug. 18 unaware that the street is closed to vehicles.
The Promenade, normally crowded with thousands of people during the day, was virtually empty at 10:05 a.m. when she traveled nearly an entire block driving on the sidewalk, weaving in and out of trash cans, outdoor vendors and cafe seats. She stopped just short of a sidewalk vendor.
The woman was let go, but Santa Monica Police submitted a request to the DMV to have her driving abilities re-examined. A police report was taken to the City Attorney’s Office where it’s being determined whether the woman should be cited for violating Santa Monica law for driving on the Promenade.
The DMV suspended Weller’s drivers license just a few days after the accident, which is still being investigated by police.
And on Aug. 9, an 86-year-old man smashed his car into a fence that surrounds a home daycare center and then left the scene. No one was injured, partly because the incident occurred at 10:55 p.m.
The unidentified man drove out of the Elks Lodge parking lot off of Pico Boulevard into the alley and plowed straight into Perviz Esmail’s iron gate that blocked the north side of her home. He then drove east down the alley and abandoned his car. SMPD officers found him at the Elks Lodge a few minutes later.
The man’s white Cadillac plowed into the gate hard enough to break a nearby gas meter. The gate was pushed within feet of playground equipment where Esmail operates a private daycare facility for up to 12 kids. Her home is directly across the alley from the Elks Lodge Parking lot.
Police aren’t releasing the man’s name, despite that he was cited for a misdemeanor hit and run. Police seized his driver’s license and submitted a request to have his driving abilities re-examined by the DMV. That case is pending.
SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega said it’s common for police officers to submit requests to the DMV if they think a person’s ability to drive is questionable. Fabrega, who has been with the SMPD for 27 years, has submitted several license review requests of people he’s pulled over.
“(The practice has) been in existence since the DMV has given law enforcement that added tool to have those license re-examined,” he said. “It’s something (officers) look at on an individual basis.”
608,DMV spokesman Steve Haskins said once a police department submits the request, the person will be summoned to the closest DMV Driver’s Safety Division Office for an interview. Based on the results of the interview, a driver’s safety officer may require the person to submit medical records and will most likely have to undergo vision, written and behind-the-wheel driving tests.
Last year, the California DMV had 86,000 re-examination referrals from law enforcement agencies, and doctors, family and friends of individuals, Haskins said. As a result, 42,000 people had their license either suspended or revoked.
“The only way they can get it back is if they pass new tests and you have to pass them all,” Haskins said. “If there has been any kind of lapse of consciousness, we’ll review their license.”
The DMV also has a three-tier testing process that puts individuals who are questionable drivers through a rigorous testing process. If people are concerned about a person’s driving ability, there is a special section on the DMV’s Web site for them to fill out a document requesting that their license be re-examined.
“They can request anonymity and we’ll do the best we can,” Haskins said. “But the best way is to work through a doctor because most older people tend to have a closer relationships with their doctors and their request to stop driving can be related to a medical condition instead of a daughter saying, ‘mom I think it’s time to stop driving.’”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 15, 2003. Read the original PDF.