An 84-year-old Northwest Side man, who, in an apparently disoriented state, drove onto the Oak Street Beach bicycle path Tuesday, killing a 26-year-old woman and injuring two others, will have to undergo a behind-the-wheel driving test by early May, state officials said Wednesday.
The Illinois secretary of state’s office notified Joseph Landi, who does not have any recent citations on his driving record, that he will lose his license if he does not come in for another driving and vision test by May 3, said department spokesman Dave Urbanek.
No criminal charges will be filed against Landi because there was no indication of criminal intent or that he was “intentionally doing something of a reckless nature,” such as drunken driving or drag racing, said Chicago police spokesman, Kevin Morison.
But the family of Moon Pae, who was in-line skating when she was struck and died a few hours later of head and chest wounds, said the accident should spur Illinois lawmakers to reconsider state testing standards for elderly drivers.
“I don’t have any solutions in how the problem should be resolved, but state lawmakers should take heed of such personal tragedies,” said James Pae, Moon’s 32-year-old cousin.
Moon, who was engaged and a part-time computer science student at Northeastern Illinois University, immigrated to Chicago from South Korea 10 years ago with her parents and younger brother, he said. Three months ago, she and her family opened Broadway Florist at 6208 N. Broadway, about a mile north of their Edgewater home.
“She was the primary person running it,” James said. “She was excited about getting married and the shop. She liked the idea of having her own florist shop.”
Nationally, Illinois is already at the forefront on testing of elderly drivers. In 1989, it became one of the first states in the nation to require behind-the-wheel tests for older drivers. Drivers 75 and older must take driving tests every four years; at age 81, it’s every two years and at 87, drivers must be tested annually, Urbanek said.
Police officers at the scene of the Tuesday evening accident said Landi appeared confused and was unaware that he had hit anyone when a witness finally flagged him down and persuaded him to stop. Landi drove his four-door, Chevrolet Caprice Classic onto the path from Lake Shore Drive through an open gate near North Avenue Beach and proceeded south along the path, striking people along the way, and then turned around at the beach and drove north.
A 27-year-old woman, who was also injured, was listed in fair condition Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Thomas Knott, 25, who suffered a concussion and fractured finger, was treated and released Tuesday from St. Joseph Hospital.
