Impact of Road Conditions on Elderly Drivers
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 127, Issue 3
Abstract
This study examines the characteristics of crashes that involve elderly drivers (age 65 and older) in the state of Kentucky on different road surface conditions (dry, wet, or snowy/slushy); the study also compares the crash rates of elderly males and females. The relative accident involvement ratio accounts for exposure by using the drivers of the not-at-fault vehicles in two-vehicle crashes. Statistical significance was tested using logistic regression. Overall, elderly males were found to have a higher relative accident involvement ratio than elderly females. This result is the reverse of that found in existing literature; suggesting changes during the 1990s in the population of elderly women drivers. All elderly drivers performed relatively better as the road conditions worsened from dry to wet to snowy. This result is not found for drivers under the age of 65 years, which may be explained by elderly driver experience or elderly drivers being more cautious in bad weather.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Aldridge, B., Himmler, M., Aultman-Hall, L., and Stamatiadis, N. ( 1999). “Impact of passengers on young driver safety.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1693, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 25.
2.
Guerin, B. ( 1994). “What do people think about the risks of driving? Implications for traffic safety interventions.” J. Appl. Social Psychology, 24(11), 994.
3.
Kentucky Transportation Center. ( 1999). “Kentucky traffic accident facts 1998 report.” Kentucky State Police, Frankfort, Ky.
4.
Kim, K., Li, L., Richardson, J., and Nitz, L. ( 1998). “Drivers at fault: influences of age, sex, and vehicle type.” J. Safety Res., 29(3), 171.
5.
McKnight, J., and McKnight, S. ( 1999). “Multivariate analysis of age-related driver ability and performance deficits.” Accident Anal. and Prevention, 31(5), 445.
6.
Stamatiadis, N. ( 1996). “Gender effect on the accident patterns of elderly drivers.” J. Appl. Gerontology, 15(1), 8.
7.
Stamatiadis, N., and Deacon, J. ( 1997). “Quasi-induced exposure: Methodology and insight.” Accident Anal. and Prevention, 29(1), 37.
8.
Stamatiadis, N., and Deacon, J. ( 1995). “Trends in highway safety: Effects of an aging population on accident propensity.” Accident Anal. and Prevention, 27(4), 443.
9.
United States Census Bureau. ( 1999). Projections of the population, by age and sex, of states: 1995 to 2025, Washington, D.C.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 127 • Issue 3 • June 2001
Pages: 244 - 246
History
Received: May 18, 2000
Published online: Jun 1, 2001
Published in print: Jun 2001
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.