Insurance Center

January 14, 2009

A new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study reports that regardless of the fact that growing numbers of older drivers are entering the road, during the period of 1997-2006, fewer older drivers were killed in crashes while fewer were involved in fatal collisions than in previous years.

Among drivers 70 and older, deaths from car crashes fell 21 percent during the 1997-2006 period. This is a reverse of a prior upward trend, and is going on even as the population of people 70 and older is rising and rose by 10 percent during that period. When these figures are compared with those for drivers between the ages 35-54, the older drivers are seen to have experienced a much bigger decline in fatal crashes.

The cause of this decline in fatalities is not yet clear, but a second recent Institute study reveals that the older adults are found to be increasingly self-limiting their driving as they grow older and begin to develop physical and cognitive impairments.

When the elder group is compared with drivers ages 20-69, it is found that fewer people 70 and older are licensed to drive. Such drivers are also driving fewer miles per licensed driver. However, older people make up a larger proportion of the population than in past years as baby boomers age, and they are now hanging onto their licenses longer while driving more miles. In 2006 for example, 70 and older drivers had reached more than 20 million licensed drivers, as compared with the significantly lower figure for 1997 of just under 18 million. From 1995 to 2001, the full amount of annual miles these older drivers traveled climbed 29 percent as compared with only a 6 percent rise reported for drivers 35-54 year-olds. Starting at age 70, per mile traveled, along with crash rates and fatal crash rates begin to increase. After age 80 the increase is marked.

The above trends have brought about concerns with regard to older drivers being involved in fatal crashes. Because they are more fragile, they are more vulnerable to getting hurt in a crash, followed by dying from their injuries. The known declines assisted with physical, cognitive, and visual functions that are traditionally associated with aging may lead to increased risk of auto accidents.

Anne McCartt, Institute senior vice president for research, and an author of the new studies, says that previous research projected that older drivers would make up a substantially larger proportion of drivers in fatal crashes. That is why, she says the present findings are what she terms a welcome surprise. McCartt says that every approach to fatal crash data for this age group, whether it be by miles driven, by licensed drivers, or by population, showed fatal crash involvement rates for drivers 70 and older had declined, and at a pace faster than the rates for drivers 35-54 years old.