Fatal Crash at Leisure World Investigated : Traffic: Police say it’s too soon to say why an 87-year-old driver plowed her car into a bus bench, killing one and injuring three.

Police said they are still investigating Thursday’s crash involving an 87-year-old driver whose car plowed into a bus bench near Leisure World, killing an elderly woman and injuring three young commuters.

“It’s too soon to come to any conclusions” about whether to seek charges against the driver, said Capt. Gary Maiten. Results of the investigation will be forwarded to the district attorney’s office next week, he said. The driver, Anna Alice Crocker of Leisure World, is staying with relatives while the investigation continues, Maiten said. She could not be reached for comment.

According to records at the Department of Motor Vehicles, Crocker has a good driving record, although a recent application to renew the license she has held since 1947 is still pending. A DMV spokesman said the application was filed Oct. 9 to renew the license that expired Oct. 23. He could not say why the application was not immediately approved.

While California law imposes no upper age limit on licensed drivers, those over 70 are required to renew their licenses in person rather than by mail and to take driving and vision tests. The DMV spokesman said he did not know the results of either test in Crocker’s case, although he did say that her license requires her to wear corrective lenses while driving.

George Brown, a Seal Beach city councilman who lives a few doors from Crocker, described her as a “very methodical” person unlikely to be involved in an accident.

“I just can’t imagine her doing anything reckless,” Brown said. “She is a very kind and generous person. She really looks out for her neighbors.”

Brown said Crocker has lived in Leisure World, a retirement community for people over 55, for at least nine years.

Thursday’s accident killed Marion Lawrence, 80, of Seal Beach. She suffered massive chest injuries after Crocker’s 1979 Buick LeSabre jumped the curb and struck a bus shelter in front of the Rossmoor Shopping Center at Seal Beach Boulevard and St. Cloud Drive about 5 p.m. Lawrence, who was pinned beneath the car’s front wheel, was freed by paramedics and airlifted to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center where, she died a short time later.

Three other people, all of whom had been waiting for a bus, were reported in fair condition on Friday.

Concern has increased about the safety of drivers and pedestrians at Leisure World, where many residents continue to drive despite their advanced ages. The Nov. 5 edition of Golden Rain News, the retirement community’s weekly newspaper, carried a warning by security personnel that they had observed “several common and repeated violations of traffic rules which pose a danger to drivers, passengers and pedestrians” in and around the complex.

“I know several people who have stopped driving because they become afraid of their response time and being in certain traffic situations,” said resident Bill Doane, who represents Leisure World on the Seal Beach City Council.

Doane said he had heard of a few instances in which residents without licenses had nonetheless driven their cars through the streets of the gated community. One resident forced to give up her car because of poor eyesight now drives around in an electric cart, Doan said.

“That scares me,” he said.

While Leisure World’s private security service issues tickets to drivers who run stop signs and commit other traffic violations on the grounds, the citations don’t come with fines and never appear on the driver’s record.

Not everyone, however, considers errant drivers to be a major problem at Leisure World.

To receive a Leisure World entrance sticker, residents must show proof of car registration and a valid driver’s license, said Paul Snow, a resident for 15 years. Because stickers are renewed every two years, he said, it is unlikely that many residents drive without licenses. And as for traffic accidents, he said, the situation is “no more serious here than in any other community.”

Doane agreed. “I’d rather take my chances with a senior driver than with some 16-year-old that cuts you off on the road,” he said.