98-Year-Old Man who Caused Deadly Collision in Florida was Cleared for Driving

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on February 9, 2018

An investigation into the death of two teenage friends has discovered that the 98-year-old man who caused the accidental deaths had recently been cleared to retain his license after taking a test in his home-state of Michigan and receiving notices from medical personnel clearing him for the road.

The crash in question occurred this past Tuesday, as the Dearborn, Michigan, resident Roney was driving his RV through Fort Pierce. In the passenger seat of the RV was Roney’s 75-year-old passenger: Bruns, from Brighton, Michigan. Roney was traveling along Okeechobee Road, just west of Midway Road, and near the popular tourist and retirement destination of Fort Lauderdale when he approached the point along Okeechobee Road where 18-year-old Feketa and 17-year-old Poindexter, reportedly best friends, were driving in Feketa’s 2013 Chevrolet Silverado. Everything would likely have been fine, except that Roney, was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time.

It is not clear if Roney knew of his mistake in the moments leading up to the crash or if he attempted to avoid the car with the two young people inside of it, but whatever the situation the two vehicles collided in a head-on collision. The investigation into the crash also revealed that it is highly probable that the headlights on the RV were either not working or not engaged at the time of the crash, making it impossible for the two teenagers to see until it was absolutely too late.

Emergency rescue services rushed to the scene, but the force of the crash between the teenagers’ car and the much larger RV was far to severe for the young people to survive. While both of the friends were alive when the rescue teams reached them, the extent of the damages they suffered during the collision was too severe for their bodies to overcome. Both died as a result of their injuries shortly after the initial crash.

Neither Roney nor Bruns were injured in the incident.

The finding that Roney had recently been cleared to drive by medical examiners and a series of road tests makes this incident even more troubling, as it casts doubt on the ability of these tests to fully judge whether or not a person is able to operate a motor vehicle .

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.