Older Drivers Are Safer

The latest analysis of the official road casualty figures by the IAM reveals that the greatest risk to pedestrians is car drivers under the age of 30 who are involved in more than a third of pedestrian fatalities. Whilst there have been big reductions in fatalities within our two most vulnerable age groups over recent years – 33% in the 16-19 year age bracket, 25% for drivers in their 70’s and 22 % for drivers aged 80 or over since 2008 – 16-19 year olds continue to be the highest casualties by a long way. The other side of the equation shows that the greatest risk to the oldest group on the road is as a pedestrian – pedestrian risk increases from 2% of those injured aged between 20 and 50, to around 9% aged 80 and over – in particular from young drivers.

Increasing age and experience behind the wheel makes a rapid difference. During their teens and twenties the risk of young drivers being killed halves every five years as they gain more driving experience.

This has led some in the industry to call for post-test training to be made compulsory such as it is in countries such as Austria, where reductions of up to 30% in young male fatalities have been achieved. If new drivers can be kept alive during this most dangerous stage of their driving career, the risk of them becoming another killed or seriously injured statistic reduces significantly.

Despite widespread beliefs to the contrary, older drivers are no more likely to be involved in an injury crash than middle aged drivers, and are much less at risk than drivers aged under 30.