US police may charge driver as tenth victim dies

ONE day after an 86-year-old man lost control of his car and barreled for three blocks through a crowded street market in Santa Monica, USA the number of dead rose to 10 on Thursday as police weighed possible charges against the driver.

Among those killed at the popular farmers’ market in Santa Monica, a beach suburb of Los Angeles, were a three-year-old girl, a 7-month-old boy, a married couple, and the daughter-in-law of actor Dennis Weaver.

At least three dozen others were hurt, 15 of them critically, when the maroon Buick LeSabre driven by George Russell Weller crashed through wooden sawhorses and careened down the closed-off street.

The retiree has not been charged with a crime but police searched his home for evidence that his driving abilities were impaired.

Santa Monica police chief James Butts told ABC’s Good Morning America that investigators also believe that Weller had on at least two recent occasions struck the back of his garage with his car while parking.

Witnesses said Weller appeared dazed when he stepped from his car after it ploughed through the midday crowd of shoppers. Blood tests showed he was not under the influence of prescription drugs or alcohol.

Weller had driven away from a nearby post office and realised too late that the street had been closed, police said.

The grim accident has renewed a debate over elderly drivers, who according to state statistics are more likely to be involved in serious accidents than younger motorists when miles driven are taken into account.