Elderly Driver Killed

Dale Borshell remembers talking with her 82-year-old mother early Thursday about the tragic accident the day before in which 10 people died when an 86-year-old driver plowed through a Santa Monica farmers market.

“She said she thought it was terrible,” Borshell, of Woodland Hills, recalled. “She said that that’s why she wouldn’t drive if she weren’t feeling well.”

A few hours later, Elynor Kasper, of Laguna Woods, lay dead herself, the victim of a freak car accident that authorities said could have had even more tragic consequences.

“Thank God we just have to deal with the loss of our Mom and nobody else,” Borshell said Friday.

In fact, Kasper had been feeling ill for several months, so much so that her family had hired a full-time attendant to take care of her and drive her around. “She was smart enough to know that she was in no condition to drive,” Borshell said.

Still, on Thursday afternoon, shortly after returning with the attendant from a dental appointment, Kasper inexplicably grabbed the keys to her white 1999 Mercedes-Benz from their perch in the kitchen and drove off alone.

Alarmed, the attendant called family members and then police, warning them to be on the lookout.

By then it was too late. Speeding through a residential neighborhood near her house, Kasper ran a stop sign at the corner of Chickadee Lane and Calle Corta in Aliso Viejo. The car continued off a 60- to 80-foot embankment, sailing about 200 feet before landing between two clusters of condominiums.

It rolled over several times and landed upside down in a greenbelt that is often filled with children.

“It’s a blessing no one else was there,” said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. “Maybe she panicked when she saw the stop sign. She hit the brakes, but way too late. The car went airborne through several trees. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Kasper was declared dead at the scene.

On Friday, police investigators drew parallels to the Santa Monica incident, in which a man drove 2 1/2 blocks through a farmers market, plowing down pedestrians and fruit stands. Both drivers were elderly. And both, Amormino speculated, might have mistaken the gas pedal for the brake.

“That’s one theory we’re looking at,” he said. “Because of what happened in Santa Monica, a lot of attention is being focused on elderly drivers.”

The accident, Amormino said, is being investigated by the department’s Major Accident Reconstruction Team. Among other things, he said, the team will measure the length and color of the skid marks, examine the car for mechanical failures and take a close look at Kasper’s medical history.

“We’ll see what kind of medical condition she had and how long she had it,” he said. “We’ll try to figure out what happened, but, with the driver deceased, we may never know.”

Borshell agreed.

“Anything’s possible,” she said. “She had never done anything like this before. You can keep speculating, but we will never have an answer.”