A study recently conducted by the nonprofit organization TRIP has determined that senior citizens are at greater risk of death in car crashes.
The Preserving the Mobility and Safety of Older Americans report found that when drivers age 65 or older were involved in a crash between 2012 and 2016, death rates increased by 22 percent. While all total highway fatalities were up over the period, crashes involving drivers under 65 were only subject to an 11 percent increase. The research did not, however, find that the increases were due to seniors being at fault in these crashes. The numbers stood regardless of who was at fault in a crash. As long as a senior was present, though, the potential for fatality went up.
The American Highway Users Alliance has seized on the report to pressure Congress and the Administration at a time when they are debating the future of U.S. infrastructure.
“We urge Congress and the Administration to carefully consider TRIP’s findings as their work on an infrastructure bill continues,” Greg Cohen, president and CEO of the Alliance, said. “The Baby Boomers built most of the highways, bridges, and tunnels that today we take for granted, and we must do better at being good stewards of these assets.”
The Alliance, which advocates for drivers across the country, stressed that the nation’s seniors must be a top priority when considering road safety. They are pushing for more rumble strips and median barriers, brighter signs and pavement markings, dedicated turning lanes and signal phases, adjusted pedestrian crossing countdown times and connected sidewalks, among others, as means to better protect seniors.
The TRIP study recommendations stuck to investments in safer roads, expanding training and education of older drivers, and providing different forms of transportation for those who can no longer drive. To that same end, they promoted the potential of automated and connected vehicles for increasing U.S. mobility.