01152097

Component

The population of older drivers has been rapidly increasing resulting in the increased demand of safety in their driving requirements. Overall, total number of fatal crashes by older drivers is small even though their fatal crash involvement based on per mile driven basis is the highest, indicating the importance of accounting for true exposure. This study is therefore focused on identifying some of the critical characteristics of older drivers’ fatal crash involvement while considering the actual amount of travel by elderly drivers. This is done by calculating the fatality rates in average annual fatalities per billion vehicle miles driven. Crash data are obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and number of miles traveled or exposure data is from the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). Time period considered in this study is 1997 - 2006, where the midpoint corresponds with the 2001 NHTS data. The average annual fatality rates evaluated indicate that the risk for older drivers increases with increased age under different light conditions, vehicle type, road conditions, race, and gender of the driver. Comparative evaluation of critical factors could be made using the estimated fatality rates, which could be helpful in enhancing older driver safety.

01147878

10-3259

English

16p

2010

Transportation Research Board 89th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures (7) ; References (23) ; Tables (4)

Age groups; Aged drivers; Automobile drivers; Demographics; Driver errors; Fatalities; Highway safety; Lighting; Person miles of travel; Risk assessment; Statistics

Road conditions

Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2010 Paper #10-3259

TRIS, TRB

Jan 25 2010 11:37AM