Yep, That's Miami!

[Ksyrup]

In the end, Ossi Vaananen said he was lucky to be alive.

The Coyotes defenseman was in a freak car accident in the Miami area Saturday, and as a result, will be out four-to-six weeks with a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

While standing by a taxi, Vaananen and two Finnish reporters were struck by a car driven by an elderly man. Vaananen had just finished playing in the YoungStars Game as part of the NHL All-Star weekend, and the three men had hired the taxi to take them to dinner.

"A car ran me over," Vaananen told The Arizona Republic on Monday. "It's as simple as that. The driver wasn't drinking, but his reactions weren't any good and he couldn't see properly."

Vaananen said the driver was in his 90s. The driver lost control of his vehicle and it jumped a median before hitting the three men.

Vaananen was the luckiest of the three. Vesa Rantanen, a renowned journalist who writes for Veikkaus in Finland, spent the night in intensive care and is in danger of losing an arm. The other journalist, Kimmo Romanoff, a television reporter for Canal + Television, suffered a collapsed lung.

The taxi driver suffered minor injuries, while Rantanen's girlfriend, who was standing further away, was not injured.

"The cab driver and I were the luckiest ones, but the other two guys weren't that lucky," Vaananen told the newspaper. "But we're all lucky we're alive. He came at us from behind, and the bumper hit me behind the knee. I don't remember much other than being hit and going down to the ground.

"The cab driver was lost, and he decided to pull over to ask directions. He couldn't speak English, so everybody crawled out of the cab to find out what was going on, or to see if we should get another cab. Then all of sudden something hit us."

Vaananen was released after spending six hours at the hospital, but his knees became swollen and painful on his flight back to Phoenix on Sunday. He underwent an MRI exam upon his return.

"No pun intended, but it just blindsided me," Coyotes coach Bobby Francis told the newspaper on Monday. "I got a call from Gord (Hart, the Coyotes' trainer) on Sunday, and he asked if I had heard about Ossi. It's a shame. When you least expect it, tragedy is just around the corner.

"You think you'd be safe coming out of an (All-Star) break. We were hoping to use this time to mend and get some people back, and then this happens.

[Qwikshot]

Old people and cars don't mix.

[Lathum]

Originally posted by Qwikshot
Old people and cars don't mix.

exactelly. I have nothing against senior citizens but you should have to re-take your drivers test when you turn 65 and re-take it every 5 years. It isn't any diffrent than not allowing someone with epilepsy to drive.

[bbor]

I think Mike Keenan planned the hit.....it has his finger prints all over it

I make a living driving the streets of South Florida and can honestly say that the number of old timers driving down here has to be more than double anywhere else. Will you people please stop allowing your senior citizens to move down here. It is getting absolutely ridiculous on the roads and the over crowded populous is not helping. Thank you very much.

DOLA:

One of the first jobs that I had down here was as a hack and can say that if the old timer didn't hurt them the cabbie would have gave it his best shot. Most of the cab drivers down here have been in the states for less than 6 months and can barely read the street signs if at all. We have what equates to a bunch of 16 year old non-English speaking cabbies that have a hard enough time remembering which way is north. The cab driver involved was probably just thankful it wasn't his fault.

[cuervo72]

Both of my wife's grandmothers are in the same retirement community in Miami. When we visited her parents last month, they got a call from one of them with the big news from the community that a 92 year-old driver had killed a 95 year-old who was driving a golf cart. No word on who was responsible for the accident.

Both of her grandmothers still have their licenses, by the way. So watch out down there in Miami. If the old feeble drivers don't get you, the younger insane ones might.

[cthomer5000]

95 and driving? ridiculous. Personally, i think *everyone* should have to retake the drivers test every 7-10 years.

[Ksyrup]

What's worse is that the "Q-Tips" (as my brother calls them, since all you see, if anything, is the tuft of white or blue hair from behind) all drive in the left lane. So, they go 30 in a 55 in the left lane, waiting for that one left turn they've got to make 10 miles up the road. Mix in the insane drivers and the foreigners who are visiting or just moved there, and it's a recipe for disaster.

My insurance dropped by 67% when I moved up to Tally. If I had 2 teenagers who were driving, I think I'd have to get a second job to afford it down there.

Originally posted by cuervo72
If the old feeble drivers don't get you, the younger insane ones might.

BINGO

To expand on my initial thoughts about driving in South Florida, motorcycles played a very large role in my life prior to moving down here back in 93. I had raced dirt bikes since I was 9 years old and my first vehicle was a low rider, not a car like most 16 year olds. The absolute insanity on the road in South Florida have since convinced me to sell all of my bikes and to give up on riding for the time being. You can be the most advanced rider in the world but it's the other idiots’ stupidity that will end up killing you.

[Qwikshot]

I think that's anywhere right now...I know in Philly for a while it was truck drivers, but so many people, so much congestion, it's no surprise that it's getting worse and worse...

[Maple Leafs]

Originally posted by Ksyrup
While standing by a taxi, Vaananen and two Finnish reporters were struck by a car driven by an elderly man.

From force of habit, the New York media have demanded that Darcy Tucker be suspended.

[WussGawd]

Originally posted by Lathum
exactelly. I have nothing against senior citizens but you should have to re-take your drivers test when you turn 65 and re-take it every 5 years. It isn't any diffrent than not allowing someone with epilepsy to drive.

People rail on teenagers, but my experience is that the seniors are scarier.

Right. I've been in three accidents in my life...two of them involved getting hit by old folks who had no business behind the wheel anymore.

[Qwikshot]

Kids drive fast, seniors just drive through everything, slow reaction times...I think most hit and runs are seniors that never knew they hit something.