Does anyone have stats of percentage of old age car accidents vs youthful car accidents?

[LAS14]

I don't want this buried in the hot thread about testing older drivers. It's too important. Older drivers should only be tested more frequently than 16-25 drivers if their accident rate is higher.

Do you agree?

[snowybirdie]

1. Perhaps some help for you

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/rpt/2006-R-0457.htm

[WinkyDink]

2. I posted it in the original thread:

https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/index.html

[Warpy]

3. Old folks have a pretty low accident rate, as I recall, which is why their insurance

rates are so much lower. What usually happens is some old codger is putt-putting down the street at three miles under the speed limit and some young punk gets frustrated, whips around him and causes an accident.

"Old men in hats, they slow the very turning of the earth" I'd like to attribute it to Mencken but the net is being unhelpful today.

But maybe it's not entirely a bad thing.

[Lee-Lee]

4. No, because the causes for accidents are not the same in those two age groups

Youthful accident rates are higher due to inexperienced drivers and, more importantly, increased risky behavior. A driving test doesn't really catch increased risky behavior because they don't do the stupid stuff with the examiners in the vehicle.

Old age accidents, on the other hand, are mostly because of failing eyesight and loss of motor skills and coordination as well as loss of cognitive function. Those do show up in testing, in the vision exam before the road test and the examiner can see cognitive skills and motor skills failure during a road test.

Demanding equal testing regimes when the causes of accident rates are not the same and not able to be tested for in the same way is demanding something for a false sense of fairness.

[KPN]

7. I agree with this.

But I do think older people should be required to complete driver safety training at some frequency -- every two years? I've taken the AARP course and it was an eye opener for me because it presented the stats for seniors including fatalities.

[Lee-Lee]

9. Training? No. More frequent eye exams and drivers tests, yes

Or perhaps allow them to be waived if a physician fills out a form certifying they are still able to drive.

And once the physician is no longer comfortable making that call go to annual road and eye exams.

They should also have laws in 50 states allowing any LEO to refer a person of any age for a new exam if they encounter them driving in a way that would lead them to believe they have physical or mental issues impairing their ability to safely operate a vehicle.

[KPN]

10. Both. I agree about more frequent eye tests, not driver tests unless there's ...

a legitimate reason, like being conspicuously at fault in a couple of accidents within a specified timeframe ... one year, two years?

But don't underestimate the value of driver safety training geared specifically for seniors. I was required to complete "defensive driver" training every 3 years my entire working career ... and always found it utterly useless. Not so with the AARP course I took. It definitely raised my level of awareness about my own driving skills and how they may have declined over time. Believe me, that stuff is helpful. I find myself constantly reminding myself to focus on nothing else but driving while I'm operating a vehicle -- and that means a lot of things (speed, surroundings, planning ahead, leaving early for appointments, etc.).

[KPN]

5. The AARP Driver Safety course shows that data at the national level as I

recall. As a 66 year old, it WAS kind of eye opening and helped me to realize that I need to probably pay closer attention to driving as I am getting older. I don't recall but they may even include the references for that data.

I don't recall the data exactly, but the accident rate was pretty comparable between the two age groups. BUT what struck me was the fatality rate among senior drivers involved in accidents -- way high, maybe higher than for the younger group.

One of the reasons I took the training was to qualify for an insurance discount. Insurance companies wouldn't give a discount to seniors for completing this kind of training if their rates weren't based on data.

[FLPanhandle]

6. This comes up in Florida occasionally

It's true that older people have less accidents than younger people, but it was stated last time that older people have more accidents per mile driven.

Young people drive a lot, old people much less, but older people are more dangerous when on the road.

Of course with our large retiree population (and they all vote), it's political suicide in Florida.

[Not Ruth]

8. What is the reason for this thread?