Man, 91, in Crash That Killed Tot Says He’ll No Longer Get Behind Wheel

SYLMAR —  A 91-year-old driver who backed into a San Fernando Valley bank lobby this week and killed a 1-year-old boy said Wednesday he will not drive anymore, but he disagreed with critics who say some people are simply too old to be behind the wheel.

“I don’t want to drive anymore because of what happened at the bank,” said Val Conrad, one day after the fatal accident. “I’m very shook up about it and would rather not be on the road anymore.”

Others have told him he was too old to drive, but he ignored them, Conrad said.

In an interview with The Times, Conrad, who lives in Sylmar, touted his clean driving record and defended his legal privilege to drive. He passed a road test seven days ago, obtaining a valid, though heavily restricted, license.

“If they pass the tests, why shouldn’t they be allowed to drive?” Conrad said of elderly drivers.

The accident that killed Nathaniel Escudero of Sylmar occurred on the same day the California Assembly passed the Senior Drivers Bill, which would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to review elderly drivers’ abilities more closely at the request of a police officer, doctor or family member.

The case also spotlights an issue of increasing importance as America’s senior citizens have grown in number and political clout: More older people are on the road than ever before.

The trend has led auto companies to design safer, more comfortable cars for seniors. And private agencies, such as the Automobile Assn. of America, have created special driving courses for older people. Aging motorists have also sparked a debate over what additional driving restrictions, if any, should be applied to them.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, people 75 years and older are involved in more fatal car accidents than any age group except 16- and 17-year-olds.

Advocacy Groups Wield Clout

Still, legislators have been reluctant to impinge on seniors’ driving privileges for fear of attracting the wrath of powerful and well-financed advocacy groups, such as the AARP (formerly the American Assn. of Retired Persons), which boasts 34 million members nationwide.

“I ran into a wall,” said state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), who wrote the original Senior Drivers Bill that would have allowed the DMV to target elderly drivers for more frequent testing. The AARP opposed that version of the bill, SB 335.

“Anybody who voted for that bill would be accused of taking seniors’ licenses away,” Hayden said.

The AARP endorsed the final version, which did not cite any particular age group and passed the Assembly in a 68-7 vote.

Pat Luby, an AARP lobbyist based in Sacramento, said one’s driving ability should be evaluated on an individual basis.

“The easiest thing to do when you have a tragedy like [Tuesday’s] is say he shouldn’t be driving,” he said. “But we don’t know that. . . . Something might have happened to him right before the accident, a stroke or something.”

Det. Tom Whetzel of the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division said he believes Conrad was too old to drive but added that police remained unclear about what caused the accident.

“I didn’t hit the brake,” Conrad said. “But I don’t remember hitting the accelerator either. I really don’t know what happened.”

DMV spokesman Evan Nossoff said Conrad obtained his most recent license Aug. 24 at the Arleta field office.

“We’re obviously concerned about that,” Nossoff said. “We’re going to look into that, being that he just passed a drive test.”

According to the DMV, Conrad was prohibited from driving at night, on the highway or without corrective lenses. The accident occurred shortly before noon.

Nossoff said Conrad’s license was up for renewal on a yearly basis instead of the standard five-year period. Conrad is due to renew his license Dec. 5 because he applied so late in the year.

“Generally, one-year licenses are issued when there is a physical or mental condition at issue,” Nossoff said. Conrad’s specific case is confidential, he added.

Conrad said he takes daily medications, including insulin for diabetes.

Elderly motorists typically have slower reflexes and impaired vision as they grow older, said Dr. Ed Schneider, dean of USC’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. For instance, Schneider said, seniors often lose depth perception, particularly at night.

Arline Dillman, manager of traffic safety for the Automobile Club of Southern California, recently talked to focus groups of older drivers and their families and found many senior motorists adopt techniques to compensate for problems caused by age.

“Many of them don’t drive at night or rush hour,” Dillman said.

Senior Drivers Said to Be More Careful

Others avoid making left-hand turns, a particularly challenging maneuver for some older drivers. Dillman said senior motorists also drive fewer miles than most drivers, using their cars for short trips to the doctor or the grocery store and other essential uses.

But older people also tend to show better judgment than other age groups, according to experts, and are less likely to be arrested for drunk driving or ticketed for speeding.

“Most older people are more careful while the kids driving today are really relaxed,” said 89-year-old Morton Levine, during a weekly meeting of elderly men at the Valley Senior Services and Resource Center in Reseda.

“I was in the back seat a few days ago, and the guy driving was talking on his cell phone, driving fast and turning backward not paying attention,” Levine said.

At a time when more older people are living alone and extended families are increasingly rare, “the car equals independence,” Dillman said.

“You can’t rely on public transportation here in Los Angeles,” said Harold Elkes, 85, of Woodland Hills. “Driving is one of our joys, and once we are stripped of that it becomes very difficult to get around.”

Risling is a correspondent for Times Community News and Moore is a Times staff writer. Times Community News correspondent Gina Piccalo also contributed to this story.

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Elderly Drivers

Per mile driven, drivers 75 and older have higher rates of fatal crashes than drivers in almost any other age group.

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Researched by RON WEAVER/Los Angeles Times