New research shows that getting older does not mean that older people are worse drivers or that they are far more likely to crash, Tara Parker-Pope reports in this story in The New York Times.
Drivers over 70 are keeping their licenses longer and driving more than earlier generations, a trend that led to dire predictions about car accident risks for aging baby boomers.
But the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says fatal car accidents involving older drivers have actually declined markedly in the past decade.
“It’s not what people had expected to see,” said Anne T. McCartt, senior vice president for research at the insurance institute.
January 16th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
My father is a perfect example of this. In his younger years, he drove like a lunatic: speeding tickets constantly, tailgating, following too closely, borderline road rage. Sometime in the past few years, he started driving like a normal person. Maybe it’s because he had three accidents in a company truck in a little over a year, maybe he just finally grew up. Either way, he’s one of the safer drivers I know - and that’s saying something.