Driving risks increase with age, AAA reports

Americans 65 and older, a fast-growing segment of the population, face a sharply increased risk of death or injury when they drive a car, new research said Wednesday.

The study conducted for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the risk to drivers increases sharply as they pass 65 years of age and is second only to the risk faced by teenage drivers.

Drivers older than 65 are almost twice as likely to die in car crashes as drivers 55 to 64, the study said.

“As we age, our reaction time and other cognitive skills can diminish,” said Peter Kissinger, president of the AAA traffic safety group.

“For instance, our eyesight deteriorates to such an extent that by age 60 we require 10 times the amount of light necessary to see an object as when we were 16,” Kissinger said.

Compared to those nearing retirement age, drivers older than 65 were more likely to be ill or suffering some kind of physical ailment at the time of their crashes. They were also more likely to have had a perceptual lapse, like disregarding signs or making a left turn into oncoming traffic, when when their accidents occurred.

One in five Americans will be 65 or older by 2030.

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There were nearly 20 million licensed drivers over 70 in the United States in 2002, federal traffic safety statistics show. More than 3,100 drivers over 70 were killed in crashes that year.

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In the same year, more than 3,700 drivers 16 to 20 were killed in crashes. Based on estimated miles traveled, teen drivers have a fatality four times that of motorists 25 to 69 and two times higher than those who are 85.

Researchers from the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University analyzed 25 years of Texas traffic data for the AAA foundation study — including 4 million crashes. The results were consistent with other national studies.

Risks increased further for those 75 and older, according to the study. Drivers over 85 were nearly four times as likely to be killed than the 55-64 age group.