Elderly man on gopher hit by car

02/May/2012

By Jon Bassett, Western Suburbs Weekly

Comments: 5 readers have left a comment

A 95-YEAR-OLD Cottesloe man has been discharged from hospital after he was knocked from his gopher by a car in Cottesloe yesterday.

The accident happened at the corner of Forrest Street and Marine Parade about noon.

He suffered minor injuries and was taken to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for observation.

Senior Constable Shannon Hounsham said the gopher tipped over when it was hit by a four-wheel-drive being driven by a 60-year-old Ferndale man.

What everyone else is thinking

secretsquirell

03/05/2012

Thomas, I am NOT ignorant. Just stating what is happening out here! I doubt you've been rammed from behind from one of these vehicles? without an apology, but to be told to get out the way..NOT all gopher driver have their facilities with them, and are very aggressive, I'm sure you can relate to this.
I understand it is a necessity for some, therefore before they are allowed to drive these vehicles on the road, they should have Helmets, undergo eye, and facility tests,(not all elderly have it together medically/mentally).
Come on Gazza, Blame the car??? (sorry, we don't live in the horse n cart days anymore) we are talking about people who don't know what day it is sometimes, Each incident needs to evaluated separately. If a driver has had their licence revoked for age/medical reasons, WHY would you allow them behind the wheel of an unregistered/uninsured vehicle on the road.
I agree, there are some crazy drivers out there, as well on gophers...

jackie

02/05/2012

I do feel for the Cottesloe man but I'm not surprised at all.
You see every day elderly people driving around on these gophers in the middle of the road and I only wonder how there aren't more accidents to these people.
I feel for the people who one day is going to kill someone.
Gophers and bikes should be kept to the pavement not roads.

gazza

02/05/2012

O.K....we know that the elderly are not as quick as they used to be...so we should make allowances...
but they should wear helmets...just in case...
and there is nothing worse than having your independance taken away from you...
Given all this, there is NO excuse for any car driver to hit a 'gopher'...Just give them more room and more time...to get where they are going...
Put the responsibility for any such incident wholly on the car driver...the same way the law covers horses when driven or ridden...
The law says that it is an excuse [ not to blame for] for any horse rider/driver in any accident with a motor vehicle, IF the rider/driver made every effort to control the horse.

Thomas

02/05/2012

Well secretsquirrel I can see you are among the ignorant people. Try riding a gopher some time for the experience and then comment. Most people are considerate when a gopher is around, some are just downright bloody minded and will walk straight at you and abuse you. Others just walk straight out of shops and never look to see who is around. I have nearly collected a few people because of other people's stupidity and inconsideration and I suppose you may fall into that category. Riding one of these things is not just for pleasure but of necessity. There are many inconsiderate drivers of cars around too who think, that when they see someone walking or on a gopher, it gives them a signal to accelerate instead of slow down and be courteous. By the way gophers have indicators and brake lights.

secretsquirell

02/05/2012

This does not surprise me! These gophers can be found on any suburban road... with No helmets, indicators or registration, and a perfectly good footpath next to them. Hooning around shopping centres expecting people to move out of their way.

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