Older people

Overview

In 2020, motor vehicle crashes accounted for less than 1 percent of fatalities among people 70 and older. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2021). Web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS): 2020 unintentional fatal injury data for 10 leading causes of deaths, ages 70-85+, all races, both sexes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcause.html.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 noticeably starting at age 70-74 and are highest among drivers 85 and older. The increased fatal crash risk among older drivers is largely due to their increased susceptibility to injury, particularly chest injuries, and medical complications, rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes. Cicchino, J. B. (2015). Why have fatality rates among older drivers declined? The relative contributions of changes in survivability and crash involvement. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 83, 67-73.

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

Posted May 2023.

Trends

A total of 5,209 people ages 70 and older died in motor vehicle crashes in 2021. This is 11 percent fewer than in 1997, when deaths peaked, but a 38 percent increase since 1975. Deaths of older people increased by 13 percent from 2020 to 2021. The rate of fatalities per capita among older people has decreased 46 percent since 1975.

Motor vehicle crash deaths and deaths per 100,000 people 70 and older, 1975-2021

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people 70 years and older, 1975-2021
Year	Population	Deaths	Rate
1975	14,563,945	3,775	25.9
1976	14,960,120	3,896	26.0
1977	15,401,249	3,859	25.1
1978	15,876,541	3,824	24.1
1979	16,388,617	3,772	23.0
1980	16,897,977	3,861	22.8
1981	17,322,714	3,871	22.3
1982	17,783,888	3,655	20.6
1983	18,233,751	3,734	20.5
1984	18,662,938	4,052	21.7
1985	19,072,785	4,206	22.1
1986	19,463,480	4,445	22.8
1987	19,890,817	4,555	22.9
1988	20,302,280	4,925	24.3
1989	20,719,397	4,943	23.9
1990	21,164,283	4,844	22.9
1991	21,751,897	4,843	22.3
1992	22,321,217	4,901	22.0
1993	22,800,673	5,221	22.9
1994	23,243,845	5,425	23.3
1995	23,693,757	5,509	23.3
1996	24,056,323	5,578	23.2
1997	24,408,817	5,872	24.1
1998	24,793,551	5,798	23.4
1999	25,092,805	5,657	22.5
2000	25,559,879	5,379	21.0
2001	25,797,467	5,425	21.0
2002	26,005,326	5,332	20.5
2003	26,200,946	5,363	20.5
2004	26,337,518	5,106	19.4
2005	26,658,669	5,047	18.9
2006	26,884,798	4,636	17.2
2007	27,135,517	4,631	17.1
2008	27,521,034	4,291	15.6
2009	27,786,270	3,995	14.4
2010	27,957,657	4,171	14.9
2011	28,472,279	4,071	14.3
2012	29,152,093	4,113	14.1
2013	30,040,362	4,150	13.8
2014	30,864,009	4,206	13.6
2015	31,624,778	4,427	14.0
2016	32,406,486	4,848	15.0
2017	33,964,043	5,037	14.8
2018	35,290,306	5,026	14.2
2019	36,592,368	5,232	14.3
2020	37,785,698	4,593	12.2
2021	37,453,633	5,209	13.9

Seventy-two percent of people 70 and older killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2021 were passenger vehicle occupants, and 16 percent were pedestrians. Since 1997, deaths of older passenger vehicle occupants have declined 21 percent, and deaths of older pedestrians have declined 9 percent. Although few older adults are killed while riding motorcycles, this number has risen. Over 11 times as many motorcyclists 70 years and older were killed in 2021 than in 1997.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among people 70 and older, 1975-2021
Year	Passenger vehicle occupant deaths		Pedestrian deaths		Motorcyclist deaths		Other motor vehicle deaths		All motor vehicle deaths
Year	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number
1975	2,302	61	1,348	36	5	<1	120	3	3,775
1976	2,490	64	1,291	33	9	<1	106	3	3,896
1977	2,370	61	1,383	36	14	<1	92	2	3,859
1978	2,515	66	1,214	32	16	<1	79	2	3,824
1979	2,391	63	1,277	34	16	<1	88	2	3,772
1980	2,399	62	1,344	35	21	1	97	3	3,861
1981	2,495	64	1,278	33	22	1	76	2	3,871
1982	2,430	66	1,124	31	16	<1	85	2	3,655
1983	2,547	68	1,081	29	29	1	77	2	3,734
1984	2,764	68	1,164	29	32	1	92	2	4,052
1985	2,933	70	1,170	28	17	<1	86	2	4,206
1986	3,166	71	1,157	26	18	<1	104	2	4,445
1987	3,276	72	1,160	25	23	1	96	2	4,555
1988	3,540	72	1,271	26	29	1	85	2	4,925
1989	3,658	74	1,180	24	14	<1	91	2	4,943
1990	3,525	73	1,195	25	26	1	98	2	4,844
1991	3,690	76	1,044	22	22	<1	87	2	4,843
1992	3,801	78	997	20	18	<1	85	2	4,901
1993	4,076	78	1,012	19	30	1	103	2	5,221
1994	4,291	79	1,021	19	25	<1	88	2	5,425
1995	4,368	79	1,008	18	16	<1	117	2	5,509
1996	4,492	81	951	17	24	<1	111	2	5,578
1997	4,748	81	931	16	27	<1	166	3	5,872
1998	4,683	81	965	17	28	<1	122	2	5,798
1999	4,587	81	885	16	30	1	155	3	5,657
2000	4,406	82	807	15	42	1	124	2	5,379
2001	4,389	81	878	16	42	1	116	2	5,425
2002	4,287	80	845	16	50	1	150	3	5,332
2003	4,377	82	777	14	56	1	153	3	5,363
2004	4,113	81	763	15	48	1	182	4	5,106
2005	4,016	80	777	15	79	2	175	3	5,047
2006	3,681	79	707	15	76	2	172	4	4,636
2007	3,661	79	726	16	89	2	155	3	4,631
2008	3,401	79	603	14	127	3	160	4	4,291
2009	3,194	80	578	14	91	2	132	3	3,995
2010	3,246	78	628	15	137	3	160	4	4,171
2011	3,109	76	637	16	147	4	178	4	4,071
2012	3,081	75	707	17	150	4	175	4	4,113
2013	3,123	75	666	16	177	4	184	4	4,150
2014	3,136	75	729	17	124	3	217	5	4,206
2015	3,346	76	719	16	164	4	198	4	4,427
2016	3,586	74	822	17	207	4	233	5	4,848
2017	3,763	75	821	16	232	5	221	4	5,037
2018	3,665	73	911	18	212	4	238	5	5,026
2019	3,810	73	888	17	251	5	283	5	5,232
2020	3,251	71	777	17	267	6	298	6	4,593
2021	3,766	72	846	16	302	6	295	6	5,209

In 2021, 57 percent of the deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers 70 and older were the older drivers themselves, and 13 percent were their passengers. Twenty-nine percent of deaths were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians. In contrast, in crashes involving at least one passenger vehicle driver younger than 30, 38 percent of the deaths were the drivers younger than 30, 17 percent were their passengers, and 45 percent were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians.

Deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers younger than 30, ages 30-69, and 70 and older, by type of road user, 2021
	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
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Deaths in passenger vehicles with a driver that age
Drivers	5,840	38	11,536	48	2,853	57
Passengers	2,586	17	2,963	12	662	13
Deaths of other passenger vehicle occupants	3,389	22	3,611	15	644	13
Motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians	3,455	23	6,102	25	820	16
Total*	15,366	100	24,371	100	4,994	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Population and mileage rates

Looked at by age group, 2021 motor vehicle crash death rates begin increasing for males at ages 75-79 and females at age 70-74. Males had substantially higher death rates than females for ages 16 and older.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2021

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2021
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<16	33,217,260	776	2.3	31,705,336	597	1.9	64,922,596	1,380	2.1
16-19	8,794,449	1,780	20.2	8,414,291	815	9.7	17,208,740	2,600	15.1
20-24	10,973,238	3,092	28.2	10,550,759	1,184	11.2	21,523,997	4,283	19.9
25-29	11,379,058	3,225	28.3	11,013,419	1,080	9.8	22,392,477	4,310	19.2
30-34	11,674,304	3,073	26.3	11,428,324	1,054	9.2	23,102,628	4,138	17.9
35-39	11,263,833	2,596	23.0	11,035,485	973	8.8	22,299,318	3,572	16.0
40-44	10,593,780	2,335	22.0	10,510,756	801	7.6	21,104,536	3,144	14.9
45-49	9,875,757	2,049	20.7	9,905,753	679	6.9	19,781,510	2,735	13.8
50-54	10,436,202	2,274	21.8	10,470,724	775	7.4	20,906,926	3,054	14.6
55-59	10,630,059	2,331	21.9	10,937,255	747	6.8	21,567,314	3,080	14.3
60-64	10,333,259	2,170	21.0	10,902,491	744	6.8	21,235,750	2,925	13.8
65-69	8,748,213	1,665	19.0	9,646,107	611	6.3	18,394,320	2,280	12.4
70-74	7,120,873	1,198	16.8	8,150,929	577	7.1	15,271,802	1,779	11.6
75-79	4,472,410	862	19.3	5,432,359	512	9.4	9,904,769	1,375	13.9
80-84	2,696,104	622	23.1	3,605,202	372	10.3	6,301,306	996	15.8
≥85	2,175,943	578	26.6	3,799,813	478	12.6	5,975,756	1,059	17.7
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

In 2016-17, the rate of passenger vehicle driver fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled began to increase at ages 70-74. Drivers 85 and older had the highest rate of fatal crash involvement.Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. (2020). [Unpublished analysis of April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the National Household Travel Survey].

Passenger vehicle fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled by driver age, April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017

Passenger vehicle fatal crash rates per 100 million miles traveled, by driver age, April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017
Age	Crash involvements	Miles	Rate
16-19	3,023	62,410,423,548	4.8
20-24	5,615	172,158,820,127	3.3
25-29	4,963	213,487,256,997	2.3
30-34	4,052	228,055,122,817	1.8
35-39	3,290	235,513,924,779	1.4
40-44	2,933	221,981,057,921	1.3
45-49	2,868	211,720,351,245	1.4
50-54	2,954	229,997,362,385	1.3
55-59	2,791	216,227,224,007	1.3
60-64	2,397	195,073,278,082	1.2
65-69	2,003	149,557,419,942	1.3
70-74	1,468	87,458,953,733	1.7
75-79	1,094	51,982,073,748	2.1
80-84	882	20,669,598,896	4.3
≥85	858	11,313,581,400	7.6
Total*	41,234	2,307,606,449,627	1.8
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crash types

Among passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2021, the proportion in multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections increases steadily with age starting at 65-69. Multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections accounted for 39 percent of fatal crash involvements among drivers 80 and older, compared with 20 percent for drivers ages 16-59.

Passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes by age and crash type, 2021
Age	Multiple-vehicle intersection crashes		Other multiple-vehicle crashes		Single-vehicle intersection crashes		Other single-vehicle crashes		All crashes*
Age	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
16-19	773	23	1,283	37	141	4	1,227	36	3,424	100
20-24	1,177	20	2,409	41	295	5	2,047	35	5,928	100
25-29	1,064	19	2,398	43	282	5	1,815	33	5,559	100
30-34	952	18	2,306	45	224	4	1,669	32	5,151	100
35-39	843	19	1,997	46	175	4	1,364	31	4,379	100
40-44	706	19	1,640	45	190	5	1,092	30	3,628	100
45-49	645	21	1,395	45	148	5	886	29	3,074	100
50-54	624	19	1,513	47	162	5	944	29	3,243	100
55-59	656	21	1,439	47	136	4	856	28	3,087	100
60-64	596	22	1,182	43	136	5	822	30	2,736	100
65-69	554	26	927	44	98	5	540	25	2,119	100
70-74	455	27	714	42	75	4	461	27	1,705	100
75-79	392	30	544	41	51	4	341	26	1,328	100
80-84	324	36	332	37	34	4	202	23	892	100
≥85	333	41	279	35	29	4	165	20	806	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Pedestrians

Among adults 70 and older, the rate of pedestrian deaths per 100,000 population in 2021 was highest for people ages 80-84. 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 sex, 2021
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<13	26,442,279	81	0.3	25,248,817	56	0.2	51,691,096	139	0.3
13-15	6,774,981	27	0.4	6,456,519	25	0.4	13,231,500	53	0.4
16-19	8,794,449	131	1.5	8,414,291	62	0.7	17,208,740	193	1.1
20-24	10,973,238	299	2.7	10,550,759	134	1.3	21,523,997	435	2.0
25-29	11,379,058	435	3.8	11,013,419	170	1.5	22,392,477	606	2.7
30-34	11,674,304	513	4.4	11,428,324	191	1.7	23,102,628	706	3.1
35-39	11,263,833	478	4.2	11,035,485	215	1.9	22,299,318	694	3.1
40-44	10,593,780	455	4.3	10,510,756	171	1.6	21,104,536	630	3.0
45-49	9,875,757	378	3.8	9,905,753	144	1.5	19,781,510	526	2.7
50-54	10,436,202	417	4.0	10,470,724	158	1.5	20,906,926	579	2.8
55-59	10,630,059	491	4.6	10,937,255	176	1.6	21,567,314	667	3.1
60-64	10,333,259	492	4.8	10,902,491	178	1.6	21,235,750	676	3.2
65-69	8,748,213	382	4.4	9,646,107	146	1.5	18,394,320	529	2.9
70-74	7,120,873	231	3.2	8,150,929	115	1.4	15,271,802	348	2.3
75-79	4,472,410	133	3.0	5,432,359	83	1.5	9,904,769	216	2.2
80-84	2,696,104	98	3.6	3,605,202	65	1.8	6,301,306	163	2.6
≥85	2,175,943	71	3.3	3,799,813	47	1.2	5,975,756	119	2.0
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Alcohol

Ten percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers 70 years and older in 2021 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.08 percent, compared with 20 percent for drivers ages 60-69 and 36 percent for drivers ages 16-59.

Fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08 percent by age, 2021
Age	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08
Age	Number	Number	%
16-59 years	15,000	5,358	36
60-69 years	2,331	460	20
≥70 years	2,853	279	10