On August 30, 2012, Preston Carter, a 100 year old man, backed his Cadillac into a crowd of fourteen pedestrians waiting to cross the street near a South Los Angeles elementary school. The pedestrian accident involved three adults and eleven children.
Det. John Meneses of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Central Traffic Division said that a key focus for investigators will be Carter’s claim that his brakes may have failed, causing him to strike the pedestrians.
After the accident, which left victims strewn on the ground and backpacks and other items scattered on the sidewalk, Carter’s 78-year-old daughter said her father will stop driving. Ella Fleming said the family was grateful that no one was killed in the accident. She said her father would not be driving anymore and he was planning to give his car to the family.“I’m so sorry that it happened,” she told a Times reporter, “and I’m thanking God none of them died.”
Carter has a current driver’s license and no history of traffic violations, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said.
