Man claiming medical issue arrested three times before fatal Oklahoma City crash
Courts: To drive or not to drive?

BY JAY F. MARKS

Published: October 13, 2008

Kenneth Lee Russell shouldn’t have been behind the wheel of a car on July 24.

No one knows that better than Sharon Cary, who lost her father that day in a wreck.

Cary said it was "inexcusable” that Russell, 49, still was allowed to drive after being arrested three times in the previous two months following traffic accidents or complaints of erratic driving.

The self-employed electrician blamed an unknown medical condition for his driving trouble after a July 8 crash in the 6700 block of NW 63, according to court papers. Russell told the Warr Acres police he had "palsy or Parkinson’s disease.”

A breath test revealed Russell had not been drinking, but police later learned there were several prescription drugs in his system at the time of the crash.

Warr Acres officer John Feith warned Russell to stop driving before he killed someone. He also asked the Department of Public Safety to review Russell’s driving status.

That request wasn’t heard soon enough.

Russell was driving again on July 24 when he veered left of center in his silver Ford Ranger and crashed head-on with another vehicle near NW 65 and MacArthur. The impact killed Warr Acres resident John Ira Cary, an 86-year-old retired highway worker who was driving the other car.

Russell was charged last month with first-degree manslaughter in Cary’s death. Prosecutors say he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash.

Sharon Cary, who became a veterinarian in part because of her father’s love of nature, said there should have been some way for authorities to keep Russell off the road.

"They’re supposed to be protecting the public, not the driver,” she said.

Many of those drivers came to the agency’s attention after referrals from police or hospital personnel, said Clint Dickson, director of driver compliance.

He said privacy concerns would not allow him to address specific drivers, like Russell.

It typically takes officials about a week to make contact with drivers whose ability to operate a vehicle has been questioned, he said. They are asked to take a driver’s test or supply medical records to a hearing officer.

"We try to encourage people, if at all possible, to come in to see us face to face,” Dickson said.

He said an advisory board made up of seven doctors determines which medical conditions should preclude someone from driving. Another doctor is retained by the Department of Public Safety to review medical reports on individual drivers.

Dickson said the goal is to allow people to keep their driver’s license.

Sometimes restrictions are added, such as barring someone from driving at night.

"We want to be as fair as we can,” he said.

"These people, for the most part, have done nothing wrong.”

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