George Russell Weller - Santa Monica Farmer's Market Incident

Santa Monica Farmer's Market Incident

On the afternoon of July 16, 2003, Weller, then age 86, drove his car westbound down Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica toward the city's popular Third Street Promenade. The last few blocks of the street, before it ends at the ocean, had been closed to vehicle traffic for the biweekly farmers' market.

Weller's car struck another car, then accelerated around a road closure sign, crashed through wooden sawhorses, and plowed through the busy marketplace crowd, traveling nearly 1,000 feet (300 m) at speeds between 40 and 60 mph (60 and 100 km/h). The entire sequence of collisions took at least 10 seconds.

By the time the car came to a halt, ten people had been killed and 63 were injured. Weller told investigators he had accidentally placed his foot on the accelerator pedal instead of the brake, then tried to brake but could not stop. Days after the crash, Weller issued a statement saying he was distraught and heartbroken, and his attorney called it an accident.

Some observers questioned Weller's account; numerous witnesses and victims reported:

• Seeing no brake lights on Weller's car, which would indicate that he was not attempting to stop;
• Weller stared straight ahead as he drove through the crowd, with victims flying over his windshield;
• Weller angrily yelled from his car "Get out of the way!" as he hit pedestrians;
• That Weller avoided parked cars and produce tables on both sides of the road, steering instead directly down the middle of the crowded street;
• Weller did strike one vegetable stand, "sandwiching" victims with shelves and structural components from the stand;
• Weller's car came to a stop after hitting two parked cars;
• That, upon exiting his car, cane in hand, Weller casually asked how many people he had hit; and
• That Weller also was heard to say, "If you saw me coming, why didn't you get out of the way?".

Weller's supporters argue that:

• Weller suffered from arthritis, nausea as a side-effect of medication, and reduced mobility from a hip replacement.
• Weller had a relatively clean driving record at the DMV, with one minor accident and no violations. Weller had passed a vision test and written test on renewing his driver's license in November 2000.
• Since the tragedy resulted from a "misapplication" of the pedal, Weller had committed an accident, not a crime. "Pedal error cannot constitute negligence," stated Mark Overland, an attorney for Weller.

After he was found guilty of ten counts of vehicular manslaughter, the sentencing judge noted that Weller "showed enormous indifference" and "unbelievable callousness."