Vision-impaired driver gets suspended sentence

An 88-year-old B.C. man who has badly impaired vision and was driving without a license when he struck and killed a traffic flagger has been handed a suspended sentence.

Melle Pool was given two years probation and a 10-year driving ban in a New Westminster court Thursday.

Pool — who hasn't had a driver's licence since 2001 because of age-related vision problems — drove into 52-year-old Terry Mitchell while he was working at a construction site in Fort Langley in 2008.

Mitchell was wearing regulation reflective gear when he was struck.

The B.C. Traffic Flaggers Association is shocked by the sentence, said spokeswoman Diane Herback.

"Because the gentleman is 88 years old, he gets a get-out-of-jail-free card — not good enough," Herback said.

A 49-year-old flag person was killed in Mission in July while at a roadwork site. No charges have been laid in connection with that incident, which police speculated occurred as a driver was momentarily blinded by sunlight.