How Often Do Older People Get Into Car Accidents?

According to statistics, on average, 22 people over 65 die every day in car accidents, and 580 more are in need of medical care.

How Safe Is Driving After 65?

Of course, the car is an important part of people's lives even after retirement. However, drivers over the age of 65 face some problems while driving. In this article, we will look at some driving statistics that will give some insight into how age affects driving and what risks you may face on the roads after 65.

How Many Drivers Continue To Drive A Car After 65?

You will be surprised, but according to the latest 2018 Highway Statistics report from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, more than 45 million licensed drivers continue to drive at age 65 and older. In other words, one in five drivers on US roads is an elderly person.

Also an interesting fact is that the number of drivers in this age group continues to grow. For example, from 1999 to 2018, the number of drivers aged 65 and over increased by 69%.

The State With the Most Older Drivers

Despite the fact that every year the number of older drivers increases by 3.5%, there is a state with the largest percentage of retirees. In West Virginia, about 27% of licensed drivers are currently over 65, more than in any other state. It is difficult to speculate on the reasons, but it may be due to the increase in the number of elderly in this state.

There are also several other states, such as Maine or Florida, which also have a large enough percentage of older people, which is why more drivers are on the roads over 65 years old.

State With Least Older Drivers

Again, according to the Federal Highway Administration, Utah has the lowest percentage of older drivers. According to statistics, only 15% of drivers with a license are in the age group of 65 years and older. This is due to the fact that in Utah, on average, there are fewer retirees, and therefore the percentage of drivers is lower compared to other states. Also in Washington DC, only 14% of licensed drivers are over 65 years of age.

How Often Do Older People Get Into Car Accidents?

Of course, in order to answer the question of how safe is driving after 65, you first need to understand how often older people get into accidents. You will be shocked to learn that in 2018 more than 8,100 elderly people died in car accidents. In addition, more than 212,000 retirees also needed emergency care for injuries from car accidents.

Thus, we can conclude that seniors experience a higher rate of death due to accidents. If we talk about the data of 2018, then the vehicular death rate was 15.5 per 100,000 people. People younger than 65 have a lower mortality rate of 11.4 per 100,000. The highest mortality rate is in the age group of 80 years and older, as it reaches 20.2 per 100,000.

So, answering the question of how often older people get into car accidents, we can say that on average every day 580 people are injured and another 22 people die. Of course, this is because older people are more at risk of injury and have a much harder time recovering than younger people. In addition, pensioners often experience deterioration in memory, vision, and other things that can affect the situation on the road.

Who Is More Likely To Get Into A Fatal Accident - Women Or Men?

You might be surprised to know that, but regardless of age group, men are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than women. According to 2018 statistics, 28,000 men and 11,000 women died as a result of car accidents, which means that twice as many men died in an accident.

Age Group Most Frequently Involved In Fatal Accidents

While many people consider the 65 and over age group to be the most lethal, this is not true. According to 2017 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drivers under the age of 40 were the most likely to be involved in fatal crashes. Thus, about 29 drivers (under 40) per 100,000 died in car accidents.

Thus, we can conclude that although older people are more at risk on the roads, this does not mean that they drive worse than other people. It is also a surprising fact that the age group with the lowest fatality rate in crashes are people between 65 and 69 years old, where about 15 drivers per 100,000 were involved in fatal crashes. However, it is also important to note that the number of fatal crash participants in the age group over 69 is growing by 10% every 5 years.

Most Dangerous States For Older Drivers

If you want to know the state with the highest death rate among the elderly as a result of road accidents, Oklahoma is probably worth mentioning. In this state, the death rate is almost 25 per 100,000 elderly. Also the most dangerous states are Alabama (with 24.6) and Mississippi (with 24.5).

If you want to know about the safest state for older drivers, then Rhode Island is the first one, because it has a death rate of 6.6 per 100,000 older people.

What Is The Current Situation Regarding Deaths Due To Road Accidents?

You'll be happy to hear that every year the death rate from road traffic crashes is decreasing, while the number of older drivers continues to grow. Since 1999, the death rate among the elderly has fallen by 30%. Moreover, an interesting fact is that according to the statistics for 2018, more than 45 million older people got a driver's license.