Title: Trends in Older Driver Crash Involvement Rates and Fragility: An Update
Abstract: Previous research has shown that fatal crash involvement rates per licensed driver aged 70 and older declined significantly more per year than rates for middle-aged drivers aged 35-54 during 1997-2008, and per vehicle mile traveled from 1995-96 to 2001-02. Analyses of police-reported crash data during 1997-2005 indicated that the greater declines for older drivers were due to decreases in crash involvement and in the risk of dying in the crashes that occurred. The current study examined if trends in crash rates, crash involvements, and survivability persisted into more recent years. Trends for drivers 70 and older were compared with trends for drivers aged 35-54 for national fatal passenger vehicle crash involvements per 100,000 licensed drivers during 1997-2012 and for national fatal passenger vehicle crash involvements per vehicle miles traveled in 1995-96, 2001-02, and 2008. Using police-reported crash data during 1997-2008 from 20 states, trends in involvement rates in non-fatal crashes of various severities per 100,000 licensed drivers and changes in the odds of death and the odds of death or serious injury in a crash were compared between older and middle-aged drivers. During 2007-2012, declines in national fatal crash involvement rates per licensed driver were similar for drivers 70 and older and middle-aged drivers (18 percent each). However, when considering the entire study period, fatal crash involvement rates continued to reflect a substantially larger decline for drivers 70 and older than for middle-aged drivers (42 vs. 30 percent per licensed driver during 1997-2012, 39 vs. 26 percent per vehicle mile traveled from 1995-06 to 2008).
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-02-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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