OLDER DRIVER FACTS
NATIONAL TRENDS
By 2030, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that there will be 72 million older adults, age 65 and older, living in the U.S. By 2050, it is estimated that older adults will constitute 87 million of the total U.S. population. (United States Census Bureau--65+ in the United States: 2005, Current Population Reports Special Studies)
By 2029, one out of every four licensed drivers is anticipated to be an older driver (age 65+). (Institute for Highway Safety)
Compared with drivers ages 30-59, drivers younger than age 20 and those 75 or older have higher driver death rates per vehicle mile of travel (VMT). (Guohua, Braver and Chen, Accident Analysis & Prevention, March 2003)
For men and women who have to give up driving, alternative means of transportation becomes a necessity. (Collia & Giesbrecht, Journal of Safety Research, 2003)
Increased crashes at intersections among older drivers are associated with crash over-involvement, that is, a higher mental burden connected with making left turns or high prevalence of viusal field problems. (Guohua, Braver and Chen, Accident Analysis & Prevention, March 2003)
Drivers and passengers aged younger than 30 and those aged 65 and older may each represent 27% of all driver and passenger fatalities by year 2015. Women are anticipated to comprise a greater proportion of those fatalities. (Bedard, Stones, Guyatt and Hirdes, The Gerontologist, December 2001)
Increased fragility, the risk of dying in the event of a crash, is an especially strong risk factor for older occupant deaths because if begins to affect the elderly driver at an earlier age. (Guohua, Braver and Chen, Accident Analysis & Prevention, March 2003)
Use of alternative transportation is low, excluding personal vehicle and walking, all other means of transportation account for about 2% of daily travel. (Collia & Giesbrecht, Journal of Safety Research, 2003)
Age-related declines in physical health can increase the likelihood of poor outcomes among older vehicle occupants involved in crashes. (Guohua, Braver and Chen, Accident Analysis & Prevention, March 2003)
Drivers 75 and older were considered at fault by police for about 70%-80% of deaths in two-vehicle crashes. (Braver and Trempel, Injury Prevention, 2004)
Car manufacturers currently are researching car modifications such as seat belt designs that distribute restraining forces over a wider area and brighter and larger car displays.
The Need for More Transporation Options was one of the top three of fifty resolutions passed by the White House Conference on Aging.
Over twenty-five White House Conference on Aging resolutions relate to transportation options.
NATIONAL CRASH DATA FACT SHEET
* In 2005, 191,000 older individuals were injured in traffic crashes, accounting for 7 percent of all the people injured in traffic crashes during the year (NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 2005)
* Older drivers have an excessively high rate of motor vehicle fatalities compared to other adult age groups, on a per vehicle mile traveled (VMT) basis
* Compared with middle-aged drivers, older drivers (65+) have about a 3-fold increased risk of crashing per mile driven (Foley, Heimovitz, Guralnik and Brock, American Journal of Public Health, August 2002)
* Drivers age 85 and older have about the same high crash rate per mile driven as 20-24 year olds (NCHRP Report 500 vol. 9, 2004)
* Most traffic fatalities involving older drivers in 2005 occurred during the daytime, on weekdays and involved other vehicles
* Older persons often travel with older drivers. The older person's greater susceptibility to physical injury greatly increases the chance that someone in an older driver's vehicle will be seriously injured or killed in a crash (Georgia DMVS 1996-2003 CASI Report)
* The most striking finding by age was the increased death rates among older drivers in side impact crashed per VMT: drivers age 75 or older were 13 times more likely to die than drivers ages 30-59. By comparison, the oldest drivers were about 6-7 times more likely to die in frontal or rear impact crashes per VMT than 30-59 year old drivers (Li, Braver and Chen, Accident Analysis & Prevention, March 2003)
* At the White House Conference on Aging-Mobility Resolution Ranks Third Among 73 Issues; Garners More Votes Than Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Resolutions (www.publictransportation.org)