Woman killed when car crashes through office wall
»Play Video
RENTON, Wash. -- A woman was struck and killed on Wednesday by a car that crashed through the wall of the insurance office where she worked.
Kathy Dixon is a co-agent at the company and said she was in a back room when the car smashed into the building just before 11 a.m.
"I just heard a loud, horrendous crash," she said.
Dixon said the company's office manager was at a desk near the front window and was hit and pinned underneath the car.
"I called out her name and she didn't answer," Dixon said.
Renton Fire Department Captain Doug McDonald said firefighters had to knock out part of a brick wall and a window to get the woman out from under the car and rubble.
Medics performed CPR on 60-year-old Kaye Hall of Buckley, but she died at the scene.
The 80-year-old woman who was driving the car was not hurt.
Renton Police Commander Clark Wilcox said the woman was trying to turn south onto Logan Avenue from Airport Way and just continued turning sharply and crashed into the building.
He said the woman is upset, a little confused a not sure exactly what happened.
Investigators have cordoned off the scene at 45 Logan Avenue South while they collect evidence.
Kathy Dixon is a co-agent at the company and said she was in a back room when the car smashed into the building just before 11 a.m.
"I just heard a loud, horrendous crash," she said.
Dixon said the company's office manager was at a desk near the front window and was hit and pinned underneath the car.
"I called out her name and she didn't answer," Dixon said.
Renton Fire Department Captain Doug McDonald said firefighters had to knock out part of a brick wall and a window to get the woman out from under the car and rubble.
Medics performed CPR on 60-year-old Kaye Hall of Buckley, but she died at the scene.
The 80-year-old woman who was driving the car was not hurt.
Renton Police Commander Clark Wilcox said the woman was trying to turn south onto Logan Avenue from Airport Way and just continued turning sharply and crashed into the building.
He said the woman is upset, a little confused a not sure exactly what happened.
Investigators have cordoned off the scene at 45 Logan Avenue South while they collect evidence.
My dad drove up until about a year and a half before he died. He was 95. When he moved into assisted living he no longer needed to get to the store and such so he got rid of his car. He made rules for himself and only drove locally, never at night, and not during heavy traffic. His eyesight was good and he was alert, but he knew his reflexes were slowing down. Some people perhaps should get rid of their cars at 60, 70, 80, 90 when ever their attention starts to wander. Not all people are created equal, and we each wear out at our own rate.    Â
I feel bad for the elderly driver in a way because she now has to live with the guilt knowing she killed an innocent person but at the same time I don't think that because she's 80 years old that she should just be given a slap on the wrist and told not to drive and sent on her way. If it were someone younger they'd probably be charged with vehicular homicide. Will she be charged? Probably not.
I do think that after a certain age you should not only have to take a written drivers exam but also a drivers test. They may know the rules of the road still but it's not all about that, it's about how fast you can react and whether or not you can drive.
 @CSIChic04 She should go to jail. To hell with her sentiments of guilt. She murdered someone.
@SouthofSeattle@CSIChic04
Sort of loose with that murder label arenât you? You may want to cut back on the caffeine.
My mom was sick with cancer and I had to tell her at age 56 that she could no longer drive. She was so upset because it meant her freedom was gone and it was a point that made her realize exactly how quickly she was going down hill. She continued to drive until she hit a pole in the parking garage. She was devastated that she had wrecked her car and taken such a huge risk. The point? This conversation is incredibly difficult to have with older, loved ones. When it comes right down to it, they don't have to listen either and can keep driving. We pay higher insurance rates at certain ages. It is not discriminatory to have people re-test at certain ages to prevent things like this. Not only was a life lost, the driver must live and deal with this too... as well as her family that might wonder if they could have prevented this accident by taking the keys away sooner. God be with all of those involved in this tragedy.
 @makeadifference If God was with them, he would have sent an angel to take her keys away.
We have highly advanced simulation software that teaches our pilots to fly. Why can't we use a driving simulator to cheaply and quickly screen drivers when they come in for lisence renewal? This avoids the "discrimination" argument that has prevented us from testing only older drivers.
'Not exactly sure what happened'? This is why old people should not be driving. She just killed an innocent person because of her 'confusion'. I hope this old lady rots in jail.
 @SouthofSeattle You will be 80 someday if you're lucky. this is incredibly sad for everyone including the 80 year old who didn't think she couldn't drive. If no one is around you tell you that you are getting old it's not that noticeable.Â
 @Northend I will take a bus. I am a responsible citizen and when I notice I can't drive well, I will find other options. It is that easy.
 @SouthofSeattle  @CCAngelo  @Northend Oh no, not at all sad to be me.  I have an amazing, loving family, who realize life is not "THAT SIMPLE", and who will be there for me if the day comes I need their support.  I have been there for my parents and grandparents who have suffered dementia - and NONE of them realized it when it started affecting their lives.  VERY FEW people "put themselves into homes" - you are living in a fantasy world.  I feel sorry for anyone who is close to you - you are very judgmental and I hope, when the day comes you have dementia or some other medical issue which blinds you to logical "RESPONSIBLE" thinking someone is there for you.   It does not sound like you will be there for anyone close to you.  So who is the sad one to be?
 @CCAngelo  @Northend It is not about having 'nice folks around to take care of you'. It is about being responsible. If I am going the way of alzheimer's or dementia, I will put myself into a home so that I am not a danger to anyone. If I can't see well, I will stop driving. BE RESPONSIBLE. That's it. IT IS THAT SIMPLE. Clearly, you must be one of those that is entirely dependent on others to make your decisions for you. Tsk Tsk Tsk. Sad to be you.
 @jennieb CLEARLY this old lady is not a responsible citizen. I don't drink and I don't do drugs. I know my limitations. I can already tell I don't drive well at night, so my husband drives me or I call a cab. IT IS THAT SIMPLE. Take responsibility for yourselves and stop making excuses. Excuses cause the death of innocent people.
 @jennieb You're right, I would not be so benevolent if the driver had been drinking.  You are comparing apples to oranges.  Period.Â
aren't you the lucky one whose family member was not killed by this woman. what if the "responsible citizen" had a few too many drinks and was succumbing to the ravages of alcohol? odds are you would not be so benevolent.
 @SouthofSeattle  @Northend If it's that "easy" life would be nothing but  rainbows,  sunshine, cotton candy, and no one would hurt anyone else.  Realistically it is not that easy, and in such cases it really doesn't matter how responsible a citizen one is.  It's likely the driver has been a responsible citizen all her life but is now succumbing to the inevitable ravages of old age.  Odds are when you get older you will not "notice" you've driving impairments, (and you WILL have them).  Hopefully you will have folks around you who care enough to support you through such transitions, and I hope you soften your stance as you will likely need to support someone at some point as well. Â
http://www.dol.wa.gov/forms/500008.pdf/ here is form to notify the DMV of an impaired driver
Â
http://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/reportunsafe.html// here is the link to the WA DMV's unsafe driver information. I
Â
If KOMO monitors this site, please do the public a favor and make this known to both your readers and viewers.
You have to prove your ability to start driving at 16, so why do you not have to prove your ability to operate a 3000lb hunk of metal once you reach an age that statistically shows your ability to drive safely goes down drastically. Accidents like this that involve the elderly are nearly always 100% preventable. Running into a building because you turned too much?? I just took a look at Google maps and I cannot understand how in the world you could manage to do this at this particular intersection.Â
Â
Lack of reflexes, lack of good vision, lack of perception, lack of good hearing, and lack of the ability to process your current driving situation should also mean a lack of your license.Â
Many people argue that the elderly continue to drive because they have 'no other way'. I say BS to that. My own grandmother hung up the keys and did all her business on the bus and never once asked anyone in the family to help her out. She felt doing it on her own maintained the independent a car once afforded her. Thanks for the valuable lesson Granny. I hope I'm smart enough to be as independent as you were one day.
@1opine I agree that it was a very smart decision. However, my 91 year old great aunt lives out in the sticks and can't take a bus.  It terrifies me to think of her on the road. It's not possible for every older person to take public transportation... the laws need to be tougher for the small margin that just can't utilitze other options or choose not to.
I hope I have the sense to hang up the keys permanently when I am no longer safe to drive...
"someone" said that WA DMV has a web site where one can let the DMV know of an individual who should not be driving. Perhaps KOMO can verify and inform the public. In the meantime this driver should be charged with vehicular homicide. Driving impaired due to age or any other reason should be a crime not unlike driving under the influence of alcohol.    no public transportation? the money saved on gas, insurance, licensing and upkeep could pay for the occasional taxi.Â
 @jennieb http://www.dmv.org/how-to-guides/senior-driving.php This is DMV's senior driver page. It takes a pretty soft approach and goes at it from the, "here's how you'll cope" without a license perspective. There's no mention of a hotline or way to report concern that I could see.
They need to design cars for old folks that don't have gas pedals. Just one BIG brake pedal they let up to move. The car would then have a GPS system that will determine what the speed limit is for the area and not let the car go any faster than the limit. If granny has a scare, freaks out and stomps on the brake there's no gas pedal next to it for her to stomp on by accident. 100% sure that what happened today.
 @I Like Meat This one wasn't a brake/gas pedal confusion like the vast majority. She apparently turned at an intersection and for some reason just kept turning and turning, instead of straightening out the wheel as she completed her turn onto Airport Road.Â
Â
But I like meat, too, you got any steaks going on the charcoal this evening? Make mine rare, please. :^D
 @I Like Meat Well, that might be an option if you had the car steer and make turns itself also.
RIP Kaye Hall of Buckley. Poor lady.
This is so sad. I saw a woman who had to be in her 90's at the Bartell's in Burien hit the accelerator instead of her brake. She jumped a grassy area and curbing like a bat out of hell. She collected herself and went at it again. If anyone had been in her way they would be plant food now.Â
 @jdoll88 Yup, that what happened today.
When will they start requiring elderly to retest upon renewal of their license? This happens all too frequently.Â
Â
As you age your vision, reaction times, and mental abilities deteriorate. This isn't an attack elderly, this is a known and proven fact. Driving is a privelage, not a right. It is a huge responsibility to drive a vehicle. People need to understand that at some point they need to get off the roads and surrender their license.Â
Â
Â
 @seattleemt and their children need to help making that determination, because at the same time as you lose these abilities you also lose good judgement. Same holds true for gun ownership.
@Komo Dragon @seattleemt really on the gun ownership,that's the stupidest thing I've read in awhile.
1 point @Komo Dragon , 0 for @scvette
 @scvette  @Komo  @seattleemt obviously you are not reading the news that frequently. Just recently an elderly man presented himself to police with a gun and would not take it down upon their request. At any rate, elderly people often feel a little bit suspicious about their surroundings simply because they don't hear that well, see that well, etc. As they become more vulnerable with age they also become more preemptive in judgement. Trust me, you don't want your dad to shoot your child in the middle of the night because he heard some noise. (I am not making this up). I am not saying there is an age limit, many 80 year olds are just fine in owning and handling guns, but once you notice a decline in mental capacity you as a child need to step in. I own guns. My dad owned guns. I took his when he was 85.
@Jill @Komo @seattleemt yep I do think they have the right to keep their guns. I haven't ever heard of a person in their 80's going on a shooting rampage,but I've heard many accounts of elderly people defending their selfs from home intruders! So in your liberal eyes you would want to take away their only way to defend themselfs if someone broke into their house,after all nobody preys on the elderly do they.
 @scvette  @Komo  @seattleemt What? You think old people who others think is losing good judgment should keep their guns?
This is a sad story and my heart goes out to Kaye Hall as well as her family. But I also feel for the poor lady whose accident resulted in this death. I can understand where she was coming from. Yes, older drivers should be tested more often and yes, there are many older people who just shouldn't be driving anymore. I myself am only in my 50s and have already noticed that I just shouldn't drive at night anymore. Night driving has always been a challenge for me and now that my vision is poorer it's just not a good idea for me to be on the road after dark. But I can tell you exactly why so many of these older people are still driving.... they are stuck with no other way to get around. The public transportation system in this country is just not adequate. Unfortunately, it never will be adequate because the country grew up without it and it's impossible to backtrack and do things they way they should have been done. That being said, it would definitely behoove people to try and think ahead as they get older. I am fortunate in that my home is in a town in which there is very little crime and there are sidewalks to all the places I might need to go.... grocery store, doctor, dentist, eye doctor, library. Plus there is a senior van that will pick elderly people up and take them around town as well as to the further off Walmart once a month or so. We need more senior services and/or volunteers as well as more family members stepping in to see if elderly relatives would like to ride along to the mall, grocery store, or other places. In this country, if you have no license, you're often stuck at home, unable to even get the basic necessities of food and clothing. Plus, many of today's seniors are not computer proficient. As the younger generation ages, more and more seniors will be ordering clothes and other household items on the internet, though it may still be a rather pricey way to get groceries.
Been there, when I had to take my mother's car away after her stroke. Too many cases of a senior's children not doing the right thing when that person becomes a dangerous driver.
Time to give up your driving privileges lady. Sorry but that is life. You took a life.
How sad. This is exactly why I feel that after a certain age the elderly should be required to do a yearly driving test and have a doctor sign off that there are no medical issues preventing the person from being safe behind the wheel.
Â
When my great grandma was 89 the family had to interject and cautiously tell her that she shouldn't be driving anymore. She was losing her eyesight and had gotten lost twice in the town she lived in her whole life. She adamantly refused to give up her driving privileges until she was in a bad accident a week after her driving "intervention." She didn't want to lose her independence but it was for her own good.
Â
Some elderly don't have family to step in when it is time for them to stop driving. That's why I feel that a yearly driving exam and a doctor's recommendation should be required. It is for their own safety and the safety of everyone else.
 @Tattooed_Angel I totally agree with you, but unless there are independent doctors doing the exams, it won't work.  Look at how many people here in this state get 'Disabled' placards for their cars that have ABSOLUTELY no physical limitations when you see them running into the stores and such.  I personally witnessed an older person flunk the eye exam at DMV and get passed through.  When I said something to the worker she said, "how else is she going to get around?" and looked at me like I was the one doing a disservice to the old gal.  I'm not sure what the answer is to remedy an aging population.
 @Lets_Use_Some_Sense  @Tattooed_Angel How do you know they have absolutely "no" physical limitations for the disabled placard? Because you can't see it? My friend has spinal arthritis and sometimes walks with a cane. Sometimes not. You wouldn't know they pain he is in unless you saw the cane. He refuses to get a disabled parking placard but he should have one. Both of my parents have them as well. My mother has the same issue as well as a steel rod in her thigh. You can see this with your x-ray vision? Stop judging people. You can't get a disabled placard without actually being disabled. Next you'll be telling me you can see my cancer too.Â
 @Northend  @Lets_Use_Some_Sense  @Tattooed_Angel Agreed. My friend has MS and has a placard. Sometimes her symptoms are apparent and sometimes not. AND if she is having symptoms, she has another person drive her (using her car) so that she won't get in an accident.
 @Lets_Use_Some_Sense  @Tattooed_Angel SOILENT GREEN is the remedy to the aging population.
 @SouthofSeattle  @Lets_Use_Some_Sense Hmm, don't agree, but now that you've brought it up I DO  like the idea for trolls.
 @Lets_Use_Some_Sense  @Tattooed_Angel "When I said something to the worker she said, "how else is she going to get around?" Well that's alarming.
Â
I must make a point that even though I disagree with old people driving, there was that accident the other day where the 16 year old killed himself and a 13 year old. It happens to the old and young. I think we need to raise the licensing age and impose a an age limit on driving or at least more stringent testing in more mature drivers.
 @cm257n7 Testing and education is the key to victory on road safety. Â
My sincere condolences to the family's.... RIP... As I am reading the comments I can't help but wonder where the compassion is for all involved. Accidents happen and can happen to the 16 year old driver as well as the 86 year old driver.. That is why they call them accidents. There was no malice involved in this and my guess is the driver of that vehicle wishes she had died at the scene instead of the office manager... it is easy to sit there and post laws need to be stricter and your right they should be.. my 81 year old Father just got his drivers license renewed until he is 86... I am not thrilled about this either but again there are a lot of older generation drivers out there who drive way better then others.. I can't tell you how many times I have been passed at high speeds of some young punk who thinks he is all cool... because he has his wheels.. or what about just last week the young kids who hit a telephone pole and 2 of them were killed in the accident.. accidents happen and my condolences go out to both families.. the family who just lost a beloved family member and the driver who I couldn't imagine how you would even cope with something like this. RIP
 @PrettyPebbles I'm sure the driver didn't intend for this to happen. But look at the situation:
-Â She was the only vehicle involved in the crash.
-Â She hit a building at relatively high speed.
-Â She was "a little confused and not exactly sure what happened".
Â
Someone like that has no business being on the road, yet on the road she was. An accident waiting to happen isn't really an accident at all.
@nodozr I am not defending her actions.. it is clear that it is time for this lady to give up her drivers license.. that being said how do you know she was confused and not exactly sure what happened before the accident. I got t-boned in Renton a few years back when I was in my mid 30's and I was confused and not exactly sure what happened. All I knew was that my car had about 4 grand of damage and I remember sitting on the curb kind of dazed.. I think to be a little confused and not exactly sure what happened is normal after crashing into a building.
This comment has been deleted
 @the unvarnished truth  @PrettyPebblesÂ
Â
Holy cow..... "Why is it there is no such thing as "unintended acceleration" in stick shift cars?"
Â
That is 100% accurate. I've never thought of it before, but you are right.Â
@the unvarnished truth @PrettyPebbles so you are saying everything you have done has been intentional? you have never done anything by mistake?
@the unvarnished truth Have you been in this area.. I grew up in Renton and the bulding this happened at is right next to the street.. right on the other side of those parking stalls is the street. So she didn't travel a great distance. I am not defending her actions.. it is obvious that it is time for this lady to retire her driver's license... but to say it was willful. and not an accident.. I seriously doubt it.
 @the unvarnished truth Older drivers can panic and then they "hit the brakes" .. or at least they think they do but instead they stomp on the gas. Then that freaks them out some more so they stomp on the "brake" harder. Crash!
@PrettyPebbles I do think that there would be a lot of agreement that perhaps as people age, they are required to retake their physical driving test a little more often. I wouldn't charge for that, but it would put more people at ease and help families if a non-partisan party could be the go-between in the decision as to when it's best for them to stop driving.