BERNARDSTON — The criminal justice system often takes unexpected twists and turns. After a fatal accident last fall, whatever might have transpired as this case made its way through the court won’t be taking place.
Charges of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation against an 88-year-old Hinsdale, N.H., man were not prosecuted because the defendant was determined to have dementia.
Police say Robert N. Howe was driving a 1999 Buick Century when he pulled into traffic on Route 10 from Route 142 in Bernardston around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2015. A vehicle traveling south on Route 10 pulled into the oncoming lane to avoid hitting him, colliding head-on with a third car traveling north, according to a police report of the accident.
According to the report by Bernardston Police Sgt. Jason R. Bassett, witnesses and involved parties told police that Howe pulled over to the side of the road, viewed the damage and left the scene.
The crash sent three people to Baystate Franklin Medical Center, including 73-year-old Gerald Burr, a Connecticut resident who was eventually transferred to St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, where he died from his injuries on Dec. 1.
Police used witnesses and several leads to identify Howe as the driver of the Buick and interviewed him at his home. Howe acknowledged he had been driving the vehicle with his wife, Lorraine, as the passenger, but seemed confused about the details surrounding the accident, according to the report.
During one interview, the report said Howe denied causing the accident, believing the damage to his vehicle’s hood and headlight came not from hitting another vehicle, but from running off the road into the embankment.
According to the report, on another occasion Howe told police his vehicle was struck from behind during the accident. Such statements were inconsistent with the physical evidence, inconsistent with the reports of witnesses and in contradiction to what he told police on previous occasions.
Howe told police he left the scene because the damage to the other vehicles was much greater than the damage to his own and the other parties needed medical attention, while he and his wife did not.
Because of Howe’s apparent confusion surrounding the accident, he was examined by a court psychologist, according to Becky Michaels, assistant district attorney with the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office and the case’s prosecutor.
“Mental health issues are often present in court cases,” she explained. Given his dementia, Howe will never regain competency to stand trial.
Howe is no longer licensed to drive in any state.
On July 7, Eric Burr, 42, the son of Gerald Burr, and other involved drivers and passengers delivered victim impact statements before the court.
“My concern for that day is I wanted the public, the court and Mr. Howe to understand the impact that his family had on not only myself, but all the other victims’ families,” Eric Burr said.
Burr said that “somewhere, the system failed” because Howe was allowed to drive by his family and his doctors, even though it was no longer safe for him to do so.
“They knew this gentleman should not have been driving,” Burr said. “We all know that.”
“All of the victims who spoke said this is an avoidable tragedy,” Michaels said.
She explained that the case demonstrates an important lesson.
“I think this was a tragic case that demonstrated how important it is that family members and friends of people that should no longer be driving, whatever those reasons are, should step in before a tragedy like this can occur,” she continued. “It’s a lesson to all of us who have parents that are aging, to keep an eye out.”
Though Burr is relieved that Howe can no longer drive, he is concerned by the lack of safeguards in place to make sure elderly drivers stop driving when it is no longer safe for them to do so.
“Something needs to change,” he said.