Mourning Family Wants Stricter Rules on Elderly Drivers

Celeste Gaitan was pregnant when an elderly man plowed into her beauty salon, killing her

A mourning family is channeling their grief into an effort bring about reform at the expense of some elderly drivers.

Emerson Max Gaitan is the brother of 33-year-old Celeste Gaitan, a Miami beauty salon owner who was killed last month when an elderly motorist lost control of his vehicle and crashed into her store. Celeste Gaitin was six months pregnant and the fetus also died.

Another woman, 27-year-old Laymet Albelo, was killed instantly, police said. She was a customer at Celeste Gaitan's salon.

Celeste Gaitan's family is now trying to get legislation passed that will make it harder for elderly people to get a license.

"The pain and sorrow that her sudden and tragic death is indescribable. We want to try and prevent more families from suffering through these kind of tragedies," Emerson Gaitan wrote in a letter sent to NBC Miami.

In addition to required, annual driving tests for senior citizens that would test for reflexes, the Gaitans want elderly people to be required to only drive small cars.

Pedro Ruiz, the 72-year-old man who hit Celeste Gaitan, was driving an SUV. He has not been charged with a crime.

"If you step on the accelerator instead of the brake, there is something wrong," said Gaitan's cousin, Geraldine Paez. "Driving is a privilege, not a right. You have millions of lives in your hand when you're behind the wheel."

Emerson Gaitan also said he wants a change in the building code that would require steal barriers be placed in front of commercial store fronts that could stop an out of control car from crashing through a storefront window.

The barriers, which are cemented to the ground, could have saved Celeste Gaitan's life, her family sai.

"If we can save just one life, it will be worth it,"  Paez said. "She was our sun. A big piece of our family is missing." 

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