Older drivers

There are more drivers 70 and over today, but they crash less often than they used to.

Older people | 2007

Motor vehicle crashes account for less than 1 percent of fatalities among people 70 and older; heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death. National Safety Council. 2008. Injury facts, 2008 edition. Itasca, IL: National Safety Council. People ages 70 and older are less likely to be licensed to drive compared with younger people, and drivers 70 and older also drive fewer miles. However, older drivers are keeping their licenses longer and driving more miles than in the past.

Per mile traveled, fatal crash rates increase starting at age 75 and increase markedly after age 80. This is largely due to increased susceptibility to injury, particularly chest injuries, and medical complications among older drivers rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes. Li, G.; Braver, E.R.; and Chen, L.H. 2003.Fragility versus excessive crash involvement as determinants of high death rates per vehicle-mile of travel among older drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention 35:227-35. Fragility begins to increase at ages 60-64. At age 75, older drivers begin to be markedly overinvolved in crashes, but fragility is the predominant factor explaining the elevated deaths per mile traveled among older drivers. Li, G.; Braver, E.R.; and Chen, L.H. 2003.Fragility versus excessive crash involvement as determinants of high death rates per vehicle-mile of travel among older drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention 35:227-35.

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Trends

A total of 4,598 people ages 70 and older died in motor vehicle crashes in 2007. This is 22 percent fewer than in 1997 when deaths peaked, but a 22 percent increase since 1975. The rate of fatalities per capita among older people has decreased 35 percent since 1975 and is now at its lowest level.

Motor vehicle crash deaths and deaths per 100,000 people 70 and older, 1975-2007

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people 70 years and older, 1975-2007
Year	Population	Deaths	Rate
1975	14,563,945	3,775	26
1976	14,960,120	3,896	26
1977	15,401,249	3,859	25
1978	15,876,541	3,824	24
1979	16,388,617	3,772	23
1980	16,897,977	3,861	23
1981	17,322,714	3,871	22
1982	17,783,888	3,655	21
1983	18,233,751	3,733	20
1984	18,662,938	4,052	22
1985	19,072,785	4,206	22
1986	19,463,480	4,445	23
1987	19,890,817	4,555	23
1988	20,302,280	4,925	24
1989	20,719,397	4,943	24
1990	21,164,283	4,844	23
1991	21,751,897	4,843	22
1992	22,321,217	4,901	22
1993	22,800,673	5,221	23
1994	23,243,845	5,423	23
1995	23,693,757	5,509	23
1996	24,056,323	5,578	23
1997	24,408,817	5,871	24
1998	24,793,551	5,798	23
1999	25,092,805	5,657	23
2000	25,559,879	5,379	21
2001	25,797,467	5,425	21
2002	26,005,326	5,332	21
2003	26,200,946	5,363	20
2004	26,337,518	5,106	19
2005	26,658,669	5,047	19
2006	26,884,798	4,636	17
2007	27,135,517	4,598	17

Seventy-nine percent of motor vehicle crash deaths in 2007 involving people 70 and older were passenger vehicle occupants, and 16 percent were pedestrians. Since 1975, deaths of older passenger vehicle occupants have increased 57 percent, while deaths of older pedestrians have declined 47 percent. Although few older adults are killed while riding motorcycles, this number has risen. Almost fifteen times as many people 70 years and older were killed on motorcycles in 2007 than in 1975.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among people 70 and older, 1975-2007
Year	Passenger vehicle occupant deaths		Pedestrian deaths		Motorcyclist deaths		Other motor vehicle deaths		All motor vehicle deaths
Year	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1975	2,302	61	1,348	36	5	<1	120	3	3,775
1976	2,490	64	1,291	33	7	<1	108	3	3,896
1977	2,370	61	1,383	36	11	<1	95	2	3,859
1978	2,515	66	1,214	32	9	<1	86	2	3,824
1979	2,391	63	1,277	34	10	<1	94	2	3,772
1980	2,399	62	1,344	35	14	<1	104	3	3,861
1981	2,495	64	1,278	33	11	<1	87	2	3,871
1982	2,430	66	1,124	31	9	<1	92	3	3,655
1983	2,546	68	1,081	29	13	<1	94	3	3,734
1984	2,764	68	1,164	29	20	<1	104	3	4,052
1985	2,933	70	1,170	28	10	<1	93	2	4,206
1986	3,166	71	1,157	26	9	<1	113	3	4,445
1987	3,276	72	1,160	25	18	<1	101	2	4,555
1988	3,540	72	1,271	26	17	<1	97	2	4,925
1989	3,658	74	1,180	24	9	<1	96	2	4,943
1990	3,525	73	1,195	25	22	<1	102	2	4,844
1991	3,690	76	1,044	22	11	<1	98	2	4,843
1992	3,801	78	997	20	13	<1	90	2	4,901
1993	4,076	78	1,012	19	17	<1	116	2	5,221
1994	4,289	79	1,021	19	15	<1	100	2	5,425
1995	4,368	79	1,008	18	11	<1	122	2	5,509
1996	4,492	81	951	17	17	<1	118	2	5,578
1997	4,747	81	931	16	21	<1	173	3	5,872
1998	4,683	81	965	17	18	<1	132	2	5,798
1999	4,587	81	885	16	23	<1	162	3	5,657
2000	4,406	82	807	15	34	1	132	2	5,379
2001	4,389	81	878	16	36	1	122	2	5,425
2002	4,287	80	845	16	36	1	164	3	5,332
2003	4,377	82	777	14	48	1	161	3	5,363
2004	4,113	81	763	15	41	1	189	4	5,106
2005	4,016	80	777	15	68	1	186	4	5,047
2006	3,681	79	707	15	62	1	186	4	4,636
2007	3,617	79	721	16	73	2	187	4	4,598

Population and mileage

In 2007 motor vehicle crash deaths per capita among males and females began to increase markedly starting at ages 70-74. Across all age groups males had substantially higher death rates than females.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and gender, 2007

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and gender, 2007
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<16	33,333,507	1,139	3.4	31,819,438	883	2.8	65,152,945	2,022	3.1
16-19	8,824,724	2,803	31.8	8,384,083	1,384	16.5	17,208,807	4,188	24.3
20-24	10,852,937	4,380	40.4	10,179,459	1,299	12.8	21,032,396	5,680	27.0
25-29	10,776,189	3,000	27.8	10,281,517	931	9.1	21,057,706	3,932	18.7
30-34	9,906,361	2,178	22.0	9,626,859	686	7.1	19,533,220	2,864	14.7
35-39	10,654,911	2,278	21.4	10,521,549	744	7.1	21,176,460	3,022	14.3
40-44	10,963,823	2,208	20.1	11,021,006	852	7.7	21,984,829	3,060	13.9
45-49	11,302,842	2,379	21.0	11,558,531	882	7.6	22,861,373	3,261	14.3
50-54	10,292,071	2,095	20.4	10,721,316	774	7.2	21,013,387	2,869	13.7
55-59	8,847,222	1,721	19.5	9,389,037	663	7.1	18,236,259	2,384	13.1
60-64	6,927,866	1,178	17.0	7,547,951	539	7.1	14,475,817	1,717	11.9
65-69	5,019,063	880	17.5	5,733,378	454	7.9	10,752,441	1,334	12.4
70-74	3,867,910	793	20.5	4,731,798	475	10.0	8,599,708	1,268	14.7
75-79	3,106,968	745	24.0	4,217,914	502	11.9	7,324,882	1,247	17.0
80-84	2,205,705	613	27.8	3,492,924	458	13.1	5,698,629	1,071	18.8
≥ 85	1,776,799	554	31.2	3,735,499	458	12.3	5,512,298	1,012	18.4
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Based on travel data collected between April 2001 and March 2002, the rate of passenger vehicle fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled was higher for drivers 80 and older than for drivers of any other age group except teenagers. Drivers 85 and older had the highest rate of fatal crash involvement. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 2008. [Unpublished analysis of data from the US Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the National Household Travel Survey]. Arlington, VA.

Passenger vehicle fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled by driver age, April 2001 to March 2002

Passenger vehicle fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled by driver age, April 2001 to March 2002
Age	Passenger vehicle fatal crash involvements	Miles traveled	Rate
16	1,021	10,991,775,116	9.3
17	1,410	17,007,229,957	8.3
18	1,790	27,575,876,114	6.5
19	1,885	26,116,988,928	7.2
20-24	7,184	167,139,739,780	4.3
25-29	4,873	215,143,526,035	2.3
30-34	4,438	258,141,237,337	1.7
35-39	4,492	269,147,680,452	1.7
40-44	4,255	288,295,560,019	1.5
45-49	3,530	226,862,752,042	1.6
50-54	2,878	215,764,866,751	1.3
55-59	2,238	138,646,175,519	1.6
60-64	1,678	112,124,892,364	1.5
65-69	1,416	81,468,138,271	1.7
70-74	1,453	59,206,606,813	2.5
75-79	1,477	35,214,532,480	4.2
80-84	1,046	16,566,473,047	6.3
≥ 85	740	5,097,372,229	14.5

Crash types

Among passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2007, the proportion in multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections increased as driver age increased starting at ages 55-59. Multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections accounted for 44 percent of fatal crash involvements among drivers 80 and older.

Passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes by age and crash type, 2007
Age	Multiple-vehicle intersection crashes		Other multiple-vehicle crashes		Single-vehicle intersection crashes		Other single-vehicle crashes		All crashes*
16-19	1,047	21	1,521	31	240	5	2,117	43	4,927
20-24	1,328	20	2,251	33	396	6	2,806	41	6,782
25-29	1,038	21	1,766	36	283	6	1,817	37	4,907
30-34	819	22	1,404	38	211	6	1,269	34	3,706
35-39	812	23	1,359	38	220	6	1,210	34	3,604
40-44	780	22	1,417	39	195	5	1,203	33	3,598
45-49	770	22	1,413	41	171	5	1,083	31	3,439
50-54	639	22	1,211	42	158	5	881	30	2,894
55-59	607	24	1,046	41	115	5	761	30	2,530
60-64	479	25	815	43	86	5	522	27	1,902
65-69	425	31	532	38	61	4	367	26	1,386
70-74	424	35	433	35	52	4	313	26	1,223
75-79	445	39	380	33	71	6	253	22	1,152
80-84	396	45	260	29	36	4	195	22	887
≥ 85	306	44	215	31	30	4	148	21	699
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

The rate of pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people in 2007 was almost twice as high for people 70 and older combined (2.7 per 100,000) than for those younger than 70 combined (1.4 per 100,000). For all age groups the rate of pedestrian deaths per capita was higher for males than females.

Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people by age and gender, 2007
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<13	26,897,714	150	0.6	25,688,095	95	0.4	52,585,809	245	0.5
13-15	6,435,793	70	1.1	6,131,343	39	0.6	12,567,136	109	0.9
16-19	8,824,724	161	1.8	8,384,083	72	0.9	17,208,807	233	1.4
20-24	10,852,937	272	2.5	10,179,459	78	0.8	21,032,396	350	1.7
25-29	10,776,189	255	2.4	10,281,517	86	0.8	21,057,706	341	1.6
30-34	9,906,361	194	2.0	9,626,859	71	0.7	19,533,220	265	1.4
35-39	10,654,911	259	2.4	10,521,549	95	0.9	21,176,460	354	1.7
40-44	10,963,823	293	2.7	11,021,006	107	1.0	21,984,829	400	1.8
45-49	11,302,842	340	3.0	11,558,531	129	1.1	22,861,373	469	2.1
50-54	10,292,071	327	3.2	10,721,316	120	1.1	21,013,387	447	2.1
55-59	8,847,222	218	2.5	9,389,037	88	0.9	18,236,259	306	1.7
60-64	6,927,866	126	1.8	7,547,951	62	0.8	14,475,817	188	1.3
65-69	5,019,063	133	2.6	5,733,378	49	0.9	10,752,441	182	1.7
70-74	3,867,910	120	3.1	4,731,798	80	1.7	8,599,708	200	2.3
75-79	3,106,968	113	3.6	4,217,914	79	1.9	7,324,882	192	2.6
80-84	2,205,705	104	4.7	3,492,924	91	2.6	5,698,629	195	3.4
≥ 85	1,776,799	84	4.7	3,735,499	50	1.3	5,512,298	134	2.4
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Alcohol

Six percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers 70 years and older in 2007 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.08 percent, compared with 16 percent for drivers ages 60-69 and 41 percent for drivers ages 16 to 59.

Fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08 percent by age, 2007
Age	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BAC ≥ 0.08
Age	Num	Num	%
16-59	16,025	6,590	41
60-69	1,661	262	16
≥ 70	2,603	164	6

References