Fatality Facts 2008

Older people

---

Overview | Population and mileage | Crash types | Alcohol

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.¹ 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.² 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.²

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

Overview

A total of 4,268 people ages 70 and older died in motor vehicle crashes in 2008. This is 27 percent fewer than in 1997 when deaths peaked, but a 13 percent increase since 1975. Deaths of older people were 8 percent lower in 2008 than in 2007. The rate of fatalities per capita among older people has decreased 40 percent since 1975 and is now at its lowest level during this period.

Motor vehicle crash deaths and deaths per 100,000 people 70 and older, 1975-2008

 

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people 70 years and older, 1975-2008
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	3,734	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	5,425	23
1995	23,693,757	5,509	23
1996	24,056,323	5,578	23
1997	24,408,817	5,872	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	4,631	17
2008	27,521,034	4,268	16

Seventy-nine percent of motor vehicle crash deaths in 2008 involving people 70 and older were passenger vehicle occupants, and 14 percent were pedestrians. Since 1997, deaths of older passenger vehicle occupants have declined 29 percent, while deaths of older pedestrians have declined 36 percent. Although few older adults are killed while riding motorcycles, this number has risen. More than five times as many people 70 years and older were killed on motorcycles in 2008 than in 1997.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among people 70 and older, 1975-2008
Year	Passenger vehicle occupant deaths		Pedestrian deaths		Motorcyclist deaths		Other motor vehicle deaths		All motor vehicle deaths
	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	2,547	68	1,081	29	13	< 1	93	2	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	4,291	79	1,021	19	15	< 1	98	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	4,748	81	931	16	21	< 1	172	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	3,661	79	726	16	72	2	172	4	4,631
2008	3,382	79	600	14	108	3	178	4	4,268

In 2008, 62 percent of the deaths in crashes involving drivers 70 and older were the older driver themselves, and 16 percent were their passengers. Twenty-two percent of deaths were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists, or pedestrians. In contrast, in crashes involving at least one driver younger than 30, 43 percent of the deaths were the drivers younger than 30, 23 percent were their passengers, and 34 percent were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists, or pedestrians.

Deaths in crashes involving drivers younger than 30, ages 30-69, and 70 and older, by type of road user, 2008
	Deaths involving at least one driver younger than 30		Deaths involving at least one driver age 30-69		Deaths involving at least one driver 70 or older
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
Deaths in vehicle with a driver that age
Drivers	6,377	43	9,369	48	2,440	62
Passengers	3,484	23	2,983	15	621	16
Deaths of occupants in vehicle without a driver that age	2,674	18	3,025	16	409	10
Motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians	2,352	16	3,875	20	454	12
Total*	14,953	100	19,350	100	3,937	100
Note: Crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers in more than 1 age category appear in more than 1 column. * Total includes other and/or unknowns

Population and mileage rates

In 2008 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, 2008

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and gender, 2008
Age	Male			Female			Total
	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
< 16	33,422,273	971	2.9	31,903,396	659	2.1	65,325,669	1,633	2.5
16-19	8,874,432	2,318	26.1	8,439,985	1,146	13.6	17,314,417	3,466	20.0
20-24	10,845,428	3,840	35.4	10,213,553	1,131	11.1	21,058,981	4,971	23.6
25-29	10,940,956	2,873	26.3	10,392,787	825	7.9	21,333,743	3,698	17.3
30-34	9,959,083	2,091	21.0	9,638,739	590	6.1	19,597,822	2,681	13.7
35-39	10,568,801	1,910	18.1	10,424,980	673	6.5	20,993,781	2,583	12.3
40-44	10,745,556	2,105	19.6	10,761,793	726	6.7	21,507,349	2,831	13.2
45-49	11,314,075	2,186	19.3	11,565,799	847	7.3	22,879,874	3,033	13.3
50-54	10,538,558	1,974	18.7	10,953,633	743	6.8	21,492,191	2,717	12.6
55-59	9,014,715	1,624	18.0	9,568,730	613	6.4	18,583,445	2,238	12.0
60-64	7,235,924	1,277	17.6	7,866,812	520	6.6	15,102,736	1,798	11.9
65-69	5,306,217	843	15.9	6,042,465	422	7.0	11,348,682	1,265	11.1
70-74	3,958,711	752	19.0	4,815,548	447	9.3	8,774,259	1,199	13.7
75-79	3,096,817	694	22.4	4,178,346	435	10.4	7,275,163	1,130	15.5
80-84	2,239,493	547	24.4	3,510,351	433	12.3	5,749,844	980	17.0
≥85	1,863,565	547	29.4	3,858,203	412	10.7	5,721,768	959	16.8
*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.³

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	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 2008, the proportion in multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections increased as driver age increased starting at ages 50-54. Multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections accounted for 41 percent of fatal crash involvements among drivers 80 and older.

Passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes by age and crash type, 2008
Age	Multiple-vehicle intersection crashes		Other multiple-vehicle crashes		Single-vehicle intersection crashes		Other single-vehicle crashes		All crashes*
16-19	859	21	1,211	30	198	5	1,757	44	4,028
20-24	1,101	19	1,849	32	371	6	2,417	42	5,743
25-29	880	20	1,567	35	327	7	1,700	38	4,479
30-34	719	21	1,300	38	198	6	1,178	35	3,395
35-39	688	21	1,270	39	171	5	1,131	35	3,261
40-44	667	21	1,256	39	167	5	1,094	34	3,185
45-49	647	21	1,231	40	154	5	1,058	34	3,091
50-54	645	24	1,087	40	130	5	870	32	2,735
55-59	556	24	932	41	116	5	675	30	2,281
60-64	511	27	688	36	109	6	580	31	1,892
65-69	342	26	527	40	72	5	382	29	1,324
70-74	373	32	430	37	56	5	302	26	1,162
75-79	389	37	338	32	51	5	273	26	1,051
80-84	327	39	271	32	37	4	198	24	834
≥ 85	290	43	199	30	37	6	143	21	669
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

The rate of pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people in 2008 was higher for people 70 and older combined (2.2 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, although there was little difference among those younger than age 13.

Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people by age and gender, 2008
Age	Male			Female			Total
	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
< 13	27,071,742	135	0.5	25,858,037	80	0.3	52,929,779	216	0.4
13-15	6,350,531	66	1.0	6,045,359	33	0.5	12,395,890	100	0.8
16-19	8,874,432	144	1.6	8,439,985	74	0.9	17,314,417	218	1.3
20-24	10,845,428	247	2.3	10,213,553	93	0.9	21,058,981	340	1.6
25-29	10,940,956	235	2.1	10,392,787	89	0.9	21,333,743	324	1.5
30-34	9,959,083	196	2.0	9,638,739	60	0.6	19,597,822	256	1.3
35-39	10,568,801	207	2.0	10,424,980	76	0.7	20,993,781	283	1.3
40-44	10,745,556	279	2.6	10,761,793	108	1.0	21,507,349	387	1.8
45-49	11,314,075	334	3.0	11,565,799	130	1.1	22,879,874	464	2.0
50-54	10,538,558	303	2.9	10,953,633	105	1.0	21,492,191	408	1.9
55-59	9,014,715	240	2.7	9,568,730	91	1.0	18,583,445	331	1.8
60-64	7,235,924	153	2.1	7,866,812	63	0.8	15,102,736	216	1.4
65-69	5,306,217	131	2.5	6,042,465	72	1.2	11,348,682	203	1.8
70-74	3,958,711	97	2.5	4,815,548	60	1.2	8,774,259	157	1.8
75-79	3,096,817	89	2.9	4,178,346	59	1.4	7,275,163	148	2.0
80-84	2,239,493	80	3.6	3,510,351	69	2.0	5,749,844	149	2.6
≥ 85	1,863,565	90	4.8	3,858,203	56	1.5	5,721,768	146	2.6
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Alcohol

Six percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers 70 years and older in 2008 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.08 percent, compared with 15 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, 2008
Age	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BAC ≥ 0.08
	Num	Num	%
16-59	16,151	6,631	41
60-69	1,672	249	15
≥ 70	2,630	153	6

References

¹National Safety Council. 2009. Injury facts, 2009 edition. Itasca, IL: National Safety Council.

²Li, 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.

³Insurance 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.