I apologize that the idea for this post formed in my mind late in the day and I seem to lack the energy and time to process it fully. Instead it may be more a post of what I am curious about then what I have gleaned from the research or data bases. (which by the way, were not very friendly with me today - all my searches pulled up variants of my query but not direct responses - sigh)
As it were, a few days ago I saw a print piece that discussed the time when adult children should take the keys away from their aging parents. In that article there was mention of a higher rate of traffic accidents in the older population - really beginning to become serious after age 65. The article also mentioned resources available to assist the compromised parent in keeping driving and when that was no longer appropriate - to assist in remaining independent through other transportation options. Today, a report came out regarding the nations most dangerous highways and three of the top twenty were in Florida!
However, the highest rate of accidents, per 100,000 persons, is NOT in the older population but the younger. There are different reasons for the accidents between the two groups.
There are several sources of information available and then there are other people's reports on the numbers. I am trying to stick with the real numbers and in that the NHSTA has a recent report which includes 2008 data. In that report they estimate just over 50,000 drivers were involved in fatal crashes . Now the numbers per age group are also going to be related to the total number of drivers per age group - but in this raw data, there were more fatal crashes in the 20 - 29 category than in the over seventy group. The report then breaks down fatal crashes caused by a distracted driver and in that area, the group with the highest percent of distracted driver was the under 20 group at 16%. The lowest was the 50-59 age group at 9%.
It appears that of the over 34,000 (I know this doesn't match with the 50,000 drivers but I don't know why) fatal crashes for 2008, 16% were related to distracted drivers. That made me wonder what were some causes of traffic accidents and I came up with these - to which you can add I am sure:
weather
obstacles
distractions
speed
alcohol
driver error
A driver could be distracted for many reasons, the NHTSA does differentiate them and that is how they come up with reports on how many accidents could be avoided if cell phone use while driving was banned. There are some interesting subcategories in the "driver distracted by" heading, such as:
other occupant
cell phone
navigation system
moving object in car (animal/insect/cargo)
outside person
smoking
eating
etc etc etc
One might also consider which age group "in general" is more likely to engage in behavior that puts them at risk for a crash. Younger drivers may speed, fail to look and yield, may be more likely to use cell phones and ipods and to drink and drive. That puts them in the highest risk category. And it would seem the highest fatality category.
The eldest driver is not as likely to do those things, but is more likely to be visually, reflexively and cognitively impaired. Elder drivers are more likely to go too slow and in fact, are more often the cause of accidents than an accident fatality.
With regard to the elder driver - these websites may be helpful:
driver rehabilitation
passenger services for seniors
independence related services
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