Exciting Day at the Office

[Sputnik]

Yesterday a car ran into my office building right below my window. We could hear all this squealing, and it being Rideau St we thought it was just cops chasing someone. My coworker, who was walking past my window at the time, looked out and exclaimed "Holy geeze" which, of course, brought everyone to the window. He said he saw a car, just ramming back and forth into a parked car below and then the car seemed to jump the curb and disappeared onto the sidewalk. When I looked all I could see was the car that had been hit repeatedly and it was rocking back and forth in its parking spot, its tires smoking. A minute later the fire alarm went off in our building and we started down the stairwell. Everyone seemed to think it was a drill, but we said, no, a car hit the building. People immediately thought terrorist (because of the nature of my building I guess), and by the time we got to the 4th floor in the stairwell we could smell and see smoke. At that point people started realizing that this was real! Anyway we all got out safely. The car ended up in an office being renovated, so no one was in that part of the building at the time. We were let back into the building half an hour later and I watched them pull the car out from my office window. The car looked surprisingly intact. It turns out it was an 83 year old man who had somehow lost control. He was apparently fine as well. Its weird, I knew what was going on, but it wasn't until I smelled smoke that I felt real alarm at the whole situation. I can see how people panic in a real burning building.

[zionzr2]

WOW!! guess you got your heart rate up for the day!!!Glad you and no one else was hurt!!

[joatmon]

wow, I hope when I get to the point where I am at risk of doing something like that someone takes my keys. I also hope that's not for a long long time.

[BlueCrush]

Glad to hear no one else was hurt.This is why people over a certain age, like 80, should be taking a yearly on-the-road drivers test.

[BOZACK]

Yes, I agree that there should be road tests for the elderly. At some point in everyones life it becomes more difficult to do things.

[4X4CHICHI]

they shouls all have to take the tennis ball test...if you toss a tennis ball, gently mind you, and they can't get out of the way or catch it, they shouldn't be driving. jmho

[Vibe]

YYYYIIIIIKKKKKSSSSS !! That's enough to make somone keep a spare set of underware in their bottom desk draw. Glad all was OK.

[binary]

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »Glad to hear no one else was hurt.This is why people over a certain age, like 80, should be taking a yearly on-the-road drivers test.I'll give you one reason why this hasn't happened yet - AARP, one of the most groups of voters in the world, and they pay big money to lobby this type of "agism" away.Ask anyone who drives during the day for a living - many older folks should be taking the bus...

[Sputnik]

In Ontario mandatory written and vision tests are required for drivers over 80. Should have to have a practical test as well, IMO.

[Mr. Poopypants]

So when are people going to realize that older people need to be tested frequently to see if they are still fit to drive?

[russ257]

the car in front of me on my way to work this morn was nearly driven off the road due to an elderly driver in their lane. i was behind them and swerved a lil but the old lady finally got back onto her side

[northvibe]

this reminds me of the southpark where all the old people were driving and trying to kill everyone...but not intentially. i agree yearly driving tests for old people. it was hard enough for the family to get my grandpa to stop driving and he sucked real bad.

[vibe-04]

Wow, didn't hear of it here in town. Then again, I'm not living on St Patrick anymore but out in the country. Its weird, I knew what was going on, but it wasn't until I smelled smoke that I felt real alarm at the whole situation. I can see how people panic in a real burning building. Interesting you mentioned this. I have also been in situations where I'm aware of what is going on but not putting 2 + 2 together. I once witnessed a massive car accident as it was happening while standing at a corner. Cars smashed all around me and I'm standing there thinking "humm, a car accident, interesting" then I kicked it into gear to check on people and apply first aid. Then my first aid training takes over and I was in triage mode.The time difference in identifying a situation and acting upon it is what makes the difference between a trained police/firefighter and us general folk.Glad you weren't hurt.CheersAndrew

[Sputnik]

Quote, originally posted by vibe-04 »Wow, didn't hear of it here in town. Then again, I'm not living on St Patrick anymore but out in the country. This was at King Edward and Rideau, so not very far from St Patrick. There was a small write up on the CFRA News site, and A Channel (formerly the New RO) was video taping, but I saw nothing on their channel.

[Atomb]

must have been some top secret espionage stuff! the government (read CSIS) grabbed the video footage before they could air it!