More Oversight Needed for Elderly Drivers

Re “Driver Who Killed 10 Is Charged,” Jan. 6: The deaths of the people at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market as well as the fate of the driver is tragic. In the desire for accountability, real culpability may be better placed with lawmakers and Department of Motor Vehicles officials, who should set standards and means of enforcement regarding the revocation of licenses for elderly people with diminishing facilities. This horrible event should be raising a much larger issue than who was at fault on that particular day.

This is a true public safety concern that must be dealt with in a broad manner. Blaming the perpetrator or local city officials might feel satisfying for the moment but, without a serious overview of the big picture, misses the point and continues to leave the public unprotected from future tragedy.

Melanie Rothschild

Topanga

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Of course George Weller should be prosecuted for the deaths of 10 innocent people. Who other than he should be responsible for his physical condition or the stickiness of his gas pedal? The alternative is for the state to pry into every elderly person’s medical records, making decisions that ignore individual variations in skill and caution. The devil didn’t make him drive that way. He did it himself. Whether this amounts to guilt can be determined only by a trial.

Bob White

Murrieta

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Without question, the accident that claimed 10 lives and injured dozens more was very, very tragic, but I hope the prosecutors and Weller’s attorneys reach a suitable plea agreement that spares him from facing trial. By all appearances, Weller has led an exemplary life and is absolutely devastated by the events of July 16. I realize that there are many grieving friends and relatives of the deceased and injured, but it would be a shame to further punish Weller for those few unfortunate seconds of his rather remarkable life.

Mark Steele

Woodland Hills

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I’m relieved that the investigation of the farmers’ market tragedy gave final voice to the prosecutors who are charging Weller with vehicular manslaughter. Those of us who were there to witness what took place did not observe a “stereotypical” elderly driver knocking over a few trash cans but rather a highly cognitive individual who displayed NASCAR-style driving capabilities. To allow my emotional subjectivity to speak, I do not believe one needs to possess a PhD in psychoanalysis to recognize there was something deeply rooted in Weller’s psyche on that fateful day.

Michael Ryan

Venice