Woman dead after Friday's Cannon Street crashBy Glenn Smith (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Saturday, May 10, 2008
One woman has died as a result of a bizarre crash along Cannon Street that damaged seven cars and sent four people to a hospital Friday afternoon, authorities said. Lorraine Wilkins, 89, of Florida, died at Medical University Hospital at 10:52 p.m. Friday, roughly six hours after the crash, said Charleston County deputy coroner Brittney Wofford. An autopsy is planned for today. Wilkins was a passenger in a white Toyota Avalon driven by her husband, 82-year-old Edward Wilkins, Charleston police said. The couple were on their way to Myrtle Beach when their car crashed into a gray Lincoln, injuring Charleston residents Dorothy Reed, 78, and Lorraine Gadsden, 47, said Charles Francis, police spokesman. The two cars spun around several times, striking five other cars parked along Cannon Street. Glass flew in every direction. The Wilkinses and the two women in the Lincoln were transported to the hospital. Conditions of the three survivors were not available Saturday. A witness told The Post and Courier that she saw the Avalon speeding down Cannon Street, weaving in and out of traffic at an incredible speed. Francis said he had no information to support that account. The initial police investigation indicated that Edward Wilkins apparently tried to step on the brakes, but his foot landed on the gas pedal instead, propelling the Avalon into the Lincoln, he said. The crash remains under investigation and no charges have been filed. Reach Glenn Smith at Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 5 comment(s)
Posted by SomeTruthPlease on May 10, 2008 at 6:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yet again, another incident that probably can be attributed to age. I remember several years back when the same lack of judgment caused an elderly gentleman to careen into the flea market, killing a toddler. They give eye exams, but don't give tests to judge someone's response time. Relatives of the elderly should know when to take the keys.
Posted by jca on May 10, 2008 at 7:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
boy was i wrong i thought this was some 24 year old punk kid.. age was a guess.
an 80 plus year old man speeding and cutting into traffic not something you hear about to often
Posted by RTC on May 10, 2008 at 8:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Speculation: He was trying to find a hospital for his wife, as she may have been having a stroke/heart attack?
He was suffering from some type of attack himself?
Why the autopsy if she was not the driver? To see if she was having one of the above?
Too many unanswered questions to be certain.
Posted by SomeTruthPlease on May 10, 2008 at 11:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
RTC-I read the article above that stated that the couple was headed to Myrtle Beach...I'm assuming for recreation and not to see a specialist...they may have been headed to drivers training facility, however. Who knows?
Posted by kerwin1959 on May 11, 2008 at 12:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
jca - I had posted earlier on a related article that there probably weren't too many "young stupid college kids acting like morons" driving Avalons(not "cool" looking enough), and I suspected it might be an elderly driver.
A similar situation occurred in Greenville last week; the driver(only in his late 60s, I believe) mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brakes and careened into a parked car before it crashed through the front windows of a West End(downtown)restaurant during dinner. Damage to the restaurant: Est. to be $100k. Damage to cars: Est. to be $60k. Luckily, there were no serious injuries.
This is not at all unusual among elderly drivers. Go to Florida sometime. Thank goodness classes at The College of Charleston had already ended for the semester. Otherwise, my "young stupid college kid" with a perfect driving record may have been walking or riding her bike from class. My condolences to the family.
Similarly, years ago my cousin took my great uncle to the DMV to renew his license on his 85th birthday. They had taken his car keys from him several years before, but Uncle Charles still carried his license with him. My cousin assumed the DMV would take the license and replace it with a SC I.D. card. Even though Uncle Charles could only read the top(largest)letters on the eye chart and his hearing was poor, the clerk issued a new license and wished him a happy birthday. Scary, isn't it.