GREENVILLE, SC — A trooper was hit early Monday morning as he tried to stop a man driving the wrong way on Interstate 85.
The crash happened near mile marker 57 just before 3 a.m. Monday.
7 News learned the elderly driver is from Georgia and has dementia.
The trooper tried pulling over the wrong way driver, but he would not stop and had to be forced off the road.
7 News is told that the driver is an elderly man who had been reported missing from Georgia. After the crash, he was checked out by emergency responders. Crews at the scene tell us that he was able to walk on his own to the ambulance.
Investigators are not revealing the name of the wrong way driver because it was a medical issue.
DRIVING WITH DEMENTIA:
No senior wants to lose his or her independence but when to take away the keys is a conversation that Andrea Smith with Senior Action says is a matter of life and death.
“This is so critical, and I don’t think people really understand the extent of how dangerous this is and how much of a growing problem it is,” said Andrea Smith, the Executive Director of Senior Action in Greenville.
The smashed in patrol car, turned out tire of the driver’s car, and skid marks on I-85 tell a wrong way driver horror story that could have been even scarier.
“This particular one we had been notified about, so we were in the process when the collision took place of trying to get to them. You know I hate to use the term that it was fortunate that it was one of us. But they were prepared. They knew what was coming and to be looking for that wrong way driving so it put them in a position that they were able to respond at the right time. So it was a minimal collision that took place with our officers,” said Corporal Bill Rhyne with Highway Patrol.
He says there is no text book way to handle wrong way drivers, each case is individual.
But troopers do recognize the increase concern of drivers with dementia.
Senior Advocates ask family members look for signs like slow reaction times, lack of confidence behind the wheel, and forgetting directions. If those appear, it’s time to have a conversation.
‘You can’t have that conversation until you have some options. So you’ve got to be able to sit down with your parents and say we really feel like you’re not safe to drive. Here’s how we’re going to get you places,” said Smith.
Organizations like Senior Action, THRIVE Upstate, and Piedmont Healthcare Foundation can all help in a plan to provide transportation for an elderly family member. Smith says it’s a growing need for everyone’s safety as our population ages.
A Greenville Task Force on Transportation has been set up to discuss this very issue. Logistics, insurance and funding are all obstacles, but agencies are trying to figure out how to provide access to low cost or no cost transportation, beyond just trips to the doctor.
