According to statistics, the most frequent culprits of road accidents are drivers under 20 years old, while older people get into accidents less often, but their deaths in such incidents occur more frequently.
The analysis conducted by the organization covers the period from 1995 to 2010. The work is based on data on road accidents collected by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Experts compared information on the number of accidents, injuries, and fatalities among drivers, passengers, and pedestrians, dividing them into 12 age groups. The sample included people aged 16 and older, including those aged 85 and above.
The obtained data showed that over the specified fifteen-year period, the total number of road accidents in the U.S. decreased noticeably — by about 21%.
The most accident-prone group turned out to be drivers aged 16–19.
Over the fifteen years of the study, the number of incidents involving them decreased by 42–49%, but nevertheless remained almost twice as high as in the two age categories that include drivers from 30 to 49 years old.
Earlier, the press had already noted a trend of declining interest among young people in cars: compared to 1983, the number of driver's license holders among Americans under 20 decreased by approximately 20%.
With age, the frequency of getting into road accidents decreases. Each subsequent age group demonstrates fewer accidents than the previous one, and this rule also applies to elderly drivers over 75 and 85 years old.
Researchers concluded that motorists aged 70 and older are no more likely to become participants in road accidents than 30-year-olds, if the same mileage is taken into account. Drivers aged 80 to 84 also do not show higher accident rates compared to the group of 25–59 years old with a similar calculation. In all these age categories, the total number of incidents decreased by 25–30%.
At the same time, drivers aged 30–39 had the largest representation in accidents, which is most likely explained by their overall numbers on the roads. Nevertheless, from 1995 to 2010, the number of road accidents among this group in the U.S. decreased by 37%.
In addition, experts noted that older people are less likely to survive accidents due to physical characteristics. Also, within a separate study, it was found that most elderly American drivers use cars that do not correspond to their health condition and physical capabilities.
According to experts, installing various driver assistance systems in cars could significantly reduce mortality among elderly drivers.
