Fatality Crash Rate Falls for Older Drivers

Tanya Mohn, The New York Times

The rate of older drivers involved in fatal road crashes plunged during the last decade, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The fatal crash rate of licensed drivers 70 and older fell 37 percent from 1997-2008. The most striking decline occurred among drivers 80 and older, whose involvement in fatal crashes fell by almost half during the same time period.

Older drivers were also less likely to have a severe crash, and there was a greater likelihood that they would survive when they did crash, the report said.

"We expected to see the opposite," said Anne McCartt, senior vice president for research at the institute and co-author of the report. She said the road safety community anticipated an increase in deaths and serious injuries because of the growing population of older people, who are driving more and holding on to their licenses longer.

The reasons for the steady decline were unclear, Dr. McCartt said. The poor economy was thought to have a minor role. Significant factors included the fact that older drivers were doing a better job restricting their driving, they might be healthier and in better shape, allowing them to reduce their risk of crashing in the first place and a greater chance that they would survive when they did crash. Safer vehicles and better emergency medical services and trauma care were also thought to have contributed to the decline.

She said the institute had done a separate study, released earlier this year, that reinforced the idea that older drivers tended to do a good job restricting their driving when they had impairments. The study focused on an innovative program in Iowa, which showed how the state used a variety of ways to identify drivers at risk. Many of the drivers identified by the state had already been limiting their driving late at night or on high-speed roads, Dr. McCartt said. Drivers did tend to be more compliant after state involvement, however, she said.

"Part of the message of our study is older drivers are doing better without very strong restrictions," she said. "They are staying safer."

Bella Dinh-Zarr, the North American director of Make Roads Safe, a global initiative, said the study was important because it highlighted a common misconception that older drivers are a danger to others.

"They are probably the safest and wisest drivers on the road," she said, with a lifetime of driving experience, who tend to hurt themselves more than others when they are in a crash.
She said older drivers today are more aware and have greater access to refresher courses and tools to counteract the natural decline in vision, cognitive and physical abilities as people age. In addition, she said, improvements to road infrastructure - better lighting, striping and crash barriers - have also helped.

"Maybe now we are starting to see some of the rewards," Dr. Dinh-Zarr said. "It brings a lot of hope."