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Older drivers - safe or unsafe? Hopkin, Jean

By: Publication details: London IAM Motoring Trust, 2010Description: 105 sSubject(s): Online resources: Abstract: In the past, relatively small proportions of older people could drive compared with younger generations. As these younger generations grow older, the proportion of older people who can drive is increasing, and having relied on being able to drive throughout their adult lives, the number wishing to continue driving is also growing so that many older people rely heavily on their cars. The increase in the number of older people in the population also means that more attention is being paid to issues affecting older drivers. The number of injury accidents per driver is lower among drivers over 60 than those in all younger age groups, but the risk of being killed or seriously injured is higher for older drivers. This has led to a considerable body of research on the factors affecting the accident involvement of older drivers. Increasing frailty, and decline in functioning and driving skills, particularly in stressful situations, have all been shown to result in increased accident risk, while at other times the benefits of many years of driving experience enable older drivers to compensate for some of the deficits. Older drivers also compensate by adapting their travel patterns, reducing the amount of driving, driving more carefully or avoiding certain types of situation. This report investigates older drivers' accidents, and how they compare with those involving younger drivers to establish how they differ, and whether these differences can be used to point to recommendations for improving the safety of older drivers. The report analyses road accidents in Great Britain which were reported to the police over the seven year period from 2000 to 2006. The analysis identifies the involvement of older drivers in different accident situations and compares this with the younger drivers. The report draws on key research studies on older drivers, to provide an understanding of the reasons for some of the differences between accidents involving older drivers and those involving their younger counterparts. Other research has shown that drivers under 70 are no more likely to be the cause of an accident than other drivers but over the age of 70, they are more likely to be at fault, particularly in the case of right-of-way violations. Drivers over 80 have been found to be four times more likely to have caused an accident than to have been the innocent victim of one. Accidents in which older women are to blame peak about five years earlier than those where older men are to blame.
Item type: Reports, conferences, monographs
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In the past, relatively small proportions of older people could drive compared with younger generations. As these younger generations grow older, the proportion of older people who can drive is increasing, and having relied on being able to drive throughout their adult lives, the number wishing to continue driving is also growing so that many older people rely heavily on their cars. The increase in the number of older people in the population also means that more attention is being paid to issues affecting older drivers. The number of injury accidents per driver is lower among drivers over 60 than those in all younger age groups, but the risk of being killed or seriously injured is higher for older drivers. This has led to a considerable body of research on the factors affecting the accident involvement of older drivers. Increasing frailty, and decline in functioning and driving skills, particularly in stressful situations, have all been shown to result in increased accident risk, while at other times the benefits of many years of driving experience enable older drivers to compensate for some of the deficits. Older drivers also compensate by adapting their travel patterns, reducing the amount of driving, driving more carefully or avoiding certain types of situation. This report investigates older drivers' accidents, and how they compare with those involving younger drivers to establish how they differ, and whether these differences can be used to point to recommendations for improving the safety of older drivers. The report analyses road accidents in Great Britain which were reported to the police over the seven year period from 2000 to 2006. The analysis identifies the involvement of older drivers in different accident situations and compares this with the younger drivers. The report draws on key research studies on older drivers, to provide an understanding of the reasons for some of the differences between accidents involving older drivers and those involving their younger counterparts. Other research has shown that drivers under 70 are no more likely to be the cause of an accident than other drivers but over the age of 70, they are more likely to be at fault, particularly in the case of right-of-way violations. Drivers over 80 have been found to be four times more likely to have caused an accident than to have been the innocent victim of one. Accidents in which older women are to blame peak about five years earlier than those where older men are to blame.