Who Is Responsible for Elderly Drivers?

I read “He May Be Responsible but He’s Not Guilty,” by Robert Bones (Commentary, Jan. 11), with interest. This case is reminiscent of a case I was involved in some years ago. I am a police sergeant in a suburban city. An elderly woman was driving her car and ran a red light. In the ensuing accident, her passenger and lifelong friend was killed. The woman driving was distraught beyond words. It was clearly a case of manslaughter, but would justice and the community be served by prosecuting this elderly woman?

A case was filed. It was clear that the law had been violated, and all involved in the legal discussion felt that it would be improper to simply ignore this. It involved the death of a human being, obviously a very serious criminal violation. What was the result? The woman pleaded guilty, was placed on probation and had her driver’s license permanently revoked. She did not spend one minute in jail.

I believe that the integrity of our criminal justice system, the community and all the victims (including the driver) was served. I agree with much of what Bones has written. But I disagree with the fundamental argument that he has made. Do I think George Russell Weller is guilty? Yes, it appears that he is. Should he be prosecuted for manslaughter? Yes, 10 people were killed; our criminal justice system’s integrity requires it. Should he spend time in jail or prison? No, that would not be justice.

Chris Keller

West Covina

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Bones, the nephew of Weller, the man accused of manslaughter in Santa Monica, seems to be unwittingly making a very good case for the prosecution. The facts speak for themselves. Nothing caused Weller to accelerate through a crowd of people in his car other than Weller’s own volition. He was arguably a safe driver. Why would a safe driver plow into a crowd of people? Weller must have had his own reason, whatever it was, for choosing the gas pedal over the brake, for steering through a barricade rather than away from it. That he was a good man before the decision was irrelevant. Good men can still commit horrible crimes.

Joseph D. Phillips

Whittier

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I read Bones’ commentary with sympathy for both the dead and the living. I do not know what the families and loved ones of the victims are feeling. I do not know what Weller is feeling. What I do know is that in so many cases, especially those involving the death of a human being, society, through its justice system, is behaving less and less like human beings. We have discarded our search for justice and substituted in its place the need for revenge, a bloodlust vengeance that should shame us all.

It is possible, if not likely, that Weller is suffering a pain that not even his victims’ families can fully understand. Weller is not a criminal and does not need to go to prison. He already is in one -- his own.

John Mandes

Palm Springs

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I was in an accident 12 years ago when my 82-year-old mother lost control of her car. She didn’t kill anyone (thank goodness); the two of us were injured severely; she lived for four years suffering the aftereffects of the accident.

People are talking about “blame.” I will tell you who is to blame. It is you, Dr. Bones, you and your siblings, Russell Weller’s children and also the insurance company that insured him even though he had a few little fender-benders in the past. I realized after our near-fatal accident that my brother and I should have insisted that Mom stop driving. I didn’t know until I went through her things that she had a few little fender-benders where she was deemed responsible.

The articles I have read on this subject show Weller’s suffering, and his family’s suffering, but they really never talk about the victims’ suffering. I also do not think he should have to go to jail. But I think that this is a wake-up call to those of us who have elderly loved ones.

Dorothy Harper

Northridge