Elderly driver mounts footpath, ploughs into CBD store pinning shopper
By Cassandra Morgan
An elderly driver has ploughed a car through an Asian grocery store in Melbourne’s CBD, striking a pedestrian and pinning a shopper inside.
The 87-year-old man, from Ivanhoe in the city’s north-east, was behind the wheel of a teal Mercedes-Benz sedan when it mounted the footpath on Elizabeth Street about 2.30pm Wednesday.
Emergency personnel at the scene of the crash. The 87-year-old driver was uninjured.Credit: Nine News
The car struck a pedestrian, a 19-year-old man from Parkville, before smashing through the glass facade of KT Mart and hitting another 56-year-old man inside.
The vehicle pinned the shopper, who was left with a bloodied leg, 7News reported.
Police said the building sustained major structural damage, while both people struck by the car were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“The driver of the vehicle is expected to undergo a [licence] review,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said. “The investigation remains ongoing.”
The driver, who was the only person in the car, was uninjured. An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said a mobile intensive care ambulance and advanced life support paramedics attended the crash, and both injured people were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
A large police presence was reported in the CBD after the incident. The outer carriageway of Elizabeth Street was closed to traffic between Queensberry Street and Victoria Street.
The sedan was pulled from the grocery store before 4pm.
The vehicle’s bonnet was crushed after it struck the two people and stopped close to refrigerators inside the store.
Repairs are made to the shop on Wednesday afternoon,Credit: Justin McManus
Workers later swept away glass and debris, and repairs to the glass facade were carried out on Wednesday afternoon.
Rules around elderly drivers came under scrutiny in Victoria last month after a 91-year-old woman lost control of her car in Melbourne’s outer east, killing two grandparents and injuring their two-year-old grandson.
No charges have been laid over that crash, which prompted the Victorian government to consider whether the state should make fitness-to-drive tests for older drivers mandatory.
NSW, Queensland and Western Australia require drivers aged 75 and older to undergo an annual medical assessment to keep their licences. NSW also requires motorists aged 85 and above to undergo a practical driving assessment every two years to maintain an unrestricted licence.
Additionally, a coronial inquest will next year examine the safety of outdoor dining and diabetic drivers, after a BMW driven by diabetic William Swale careered down a hill and into diners in Daylesford in November 2023, killing five people.
Police urged anyone who witnessed the Elizabeth Street crash to contact Crime Stoppers.
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