Senior Drivers Account for 25% of US Driver Fatalities
October 19, 2030 - Drivers aged 65 and older account for 25% of the total driver fatalities in the US, a figure that has doubled over the last 30 years. The reason for the increase is mainly the aging population.
Older drivers are though less represented in police reported car crashes, 16% of total, but due to age related physiological changes, they are more likely to die from their injuries.
Of all fatal traffic accidents, almost half of them are due to misjudgment, and one-third are related to psychological factors, mainly lack of sleep and inattention. The total number of fatal accidents however, continues to decrease in relation to vehicle-miles of travel, because of the latest inventions within the safety area.
Different solutions have been discussed in making driving more safe for older people, but something you can do yourself if you are in that age group is to take a refresher driving course, get regular check-ups for hearing, vision and general health, and stay strong and healthy through activity and exercise.
Argument: According to the report Older driver involvements in police reported crashes and fatal crashes: trends and projections drivers aged 65 and older will account for 25% of the total driver fatalities in the US by year 2030.
Questions: Since frailty of older people, where drivers aged 70-74 are twice as likely to die when involved in a crash compared to drivers aged 30-59 (for drivers aged 80 and older the risk is five times as high), their need when an accident occur differs from younger people. Will there be special senior safety packages available, for instance including wider seat belts?
By Pontus Edenberg
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Comments:
I have always thought that taking your test once in your lifetime is ridiculous. People should be assessed at least once every 20 years, that way you can ensure that they are still fit to drive.
Posted by: Alison Booth
I think this is an innacurate vision of the future, because there is plenty of evidence that cars will be able to drive themselves by the 2020s, and so older people will no longer need to drive themselves anywhere. for example, the US government intends to have 1/3 of all military vehicles driving themselves by 2015, so another 10-15 years later, this technology will be c commercially available.
Posted by: Abbas