Elderly Driver Hits Four Pedestrians in Santa Cruz
A car with an elderly man at the wheel lurched out of control and hit four pedestrians Monday afternoon on a crowded Santa Cruz wharf.
Two victims, including a 92-year-old woman, were airlifted to a San Jose trauma center after the vehicle jolted forward and then abruptly reversed, officials said. A 6-year-old Wyoming boy was treated at the scene and an 82-year-old woman was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
The motorist, Robert Schmidt, 85, of Stockton, was stopping to pick up the two elderly females at about 4 p.m., Santa Cruz police said.
It appeared Schmidt pushed the accelerator rather than the brake, officials said, because he was unfamiliar with the foot controls of the car. They included special pedals for a handicapped driver. The car jumped forward, knocking the two elderly women to the ground. It then sped backward into a fish-cleaning station, hitting the young boy and trapping a 19-year-old Santa Cruz man under the vehicle, police said.
The collision was under investigation. Schmidt was not arrested.
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