'I'M SORRY,' DRIVER SAYS MAN, 91, TEARFUL OVER CHILD'S DEATH.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writer

SYLMAR - His eyes brimming with tears, a 91-year-old motorist who accidently backed into a bank said Wednesday that he is profoundly sorry he killed a 1-year-old boy and injured three others.

Val Conrad of Sylmar was backing out of a handicapped parking space Tuesday when he hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, rocketing his station wagon 60 feet inside the Bank of America branch on Glenoaks Boulevard, police said.

``I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it,'' Conrad told KNBC-TV (Channel 4). ``The car just took off like somebody was pushing it. I feel so sorry for that to happen.''

Police said Wednesday that they probably won't seek charges against Conrad, who just six days earlier had renewed his driver's license after taking a road test. He has had no crashes or traffic-related convictions on his record.

``If you don't have evidence of a crime, how are you going to prosecute someone?'' asked Capt. Greg Meyer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division. ``We've found no objective symptoms of him driving under the influence and no indication he was driving outside of his driver's license restrictions.''

The car hit and killed Nathaniel Escudero of Sylmar, who was on a couch inside the bank waiting for his grandmother and 8-year-old brother, neither of whom was injured. Three other people suffered minor injuries, and Conrad was taken to the hospital as well.

A friend of the child's family said his parents are too grief-stricken to consult with the police.

``The family doesn't know anything. They are dealing with the grief and loss,'' said Kimberly Schuler Hall, a family friend and counselor with the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council.

``They have to bury a son and would like it to remain private. For now, they plan to get through this on a daily basis.''

As of Wednesday, Conrad's license was still valid, but police said they have asked the Department of Motor Vehicles to re-examine him.

``We do consider it very urgent that the driver have his driver's license re-examined by DMV officials,'' Meyer said.

Conrad had just renewed his license a week ago, and the Department of Motor Vehicles required him to return to the DMV on Dec. 5, his birthday, of this year to renew his license, a DMV technician said. On Aug. 24, his exam included a driving test.

His license was restricted to driving only from sunrise to sunset, with no freeway driving, the DMV said. He was also required to wear corrective lenses.

After age 70, a California driver must go in person to a DMV office and take both a written and vision test, said Evan Nossoff, a DMV spokesman. Though the law allows for a driving test, the DMV does not require it.

``We're certainly not funded for that,'' Nossoff said.

However, there is an exception: If the elderly person measures below the DMV's 20/40 vision requirement, that person must get an eye exam and can be ordered to take a driving test, Nossoff said. And a doctor, DMV employee, law enforcement officer or family member can request that the driver be reviewed by the DMV's drivers safety unit.

Currently, the oldest licensed driver in California is a man who is 105 years old, with no tickets or convictions on his record, Nossoff said.

Two others, a man and woman, are both 104. And three other drivers are 103 years old.

Currently, there are 310,559 licensed drivers 80 to 84, 122,034 who are 85 to 90, and 27,220 who are 90 and older, according to DMV statistics.

By 2015, DMV projects there could be 6 million licensed drivers over 65, including 1.6 million over 80.

Comparatively, teen-agers 16 to 19 account for 872,472 of the licensed drivers in the state. The largest category is age 35 to 39 with 2.6 million licensed drivers.

According to a 1995 DMV study of teen and senior drivers, those age 85 and older are 2.2 times as likely to be at fault in a fatal collision as the average driver and about 10 times more likely based on miles driven.

However, those 16 to 19 are 2.8 times more likely to be at fault in such a collision, according to the same study.

Police, including the detective investigating the case, said more thorough testing is needed for aging drivers.

``We ought to do more than answer 10 questions and read a chart 20 feet away or so,'' said Detective Tom Whetzel of the Valley Traffic Division. ``They should take them out on the road and see how they drive.''

Coincidentally, on the day of the crash, the Legislature had taken up a bill that would toughen rules for licensing certain California drivers: The Brandi Joy Mitock Safe Drivers Act - SB 335.

The bill, named after a 15-year-old Woodland Hills resident who was killed in Santa Monica by a 96-year-old hit-and-run driver who had been suffering strokes for four years, would require DMV to give road, written and vision tests to drivers reported as unsafe by law enforcement, doctors or family members.

The bill seeks to strengthen current law that makes a DMV review of an unsafe driver purely discretionary, said Rocky Rushing, chief of staff for the bill's author, state Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles.

``We're trying to prevent tragedies like the one that happened in Sylmar,'' Rushing said.

Staff Writer Jordan Smith contributed to this story.