Senior drivers are the safest drivers and less likely to cause an accident than younger drivers, a new study on US drivers by the RAND institute has shown.
According to the study, drivers aged 65 and older are one-third as likely as drivers aged 18 to 25 to cause auto accidents and only slightly more likely than drivers aged 26 to 64 years of age.
Drivers aged 65 and over account for 15 per cent of all licensed drivers but only seven per cent of accidents.
People aged 18 to 25 accounted for 13 per cent of licensed drivers but caused a significant 43 per cent of all accidents.
But because of poorer health and greater frailty, drivers over 65 are almost seven times more likely to die in a traffic accident, the research revealed.
"Seniors who drive pose a much larger risk to themselves than to others," said David Loughran, a RAND senior economist and professor, and lead author of the study.
"Seniors appear to make fairly sound decisions about when to reduce the amount they drive or stop driving altogether. Not only do seniors drive much less than younger drivers but they drive at safer times during the day and avoid poorer road conditions," he added.
The study collected its data by examining over 170,000 fatal traffic accidents from 1976 to 2003.
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