BROWSE CAR REVIEWS BY:
MAKE
MODEL
Click on a car body type for search results.
 |
 |
| SUVs (two rows) | SUVs (three rows) |
 |
 |
| Crossover | Minivans |
 |
 |
| Sedan | Hybrids |
 |
 |
| Wagons/Hatchbacks | Just for Fun |
Those Crazy Teen Drivers Again
Sep 06 2007 by Sara Lacey
9/6/2007
Turns Out, You’re Better Off Driving With Grandpa
Our extended family over at Cars.com discussed older drivers in a July blog post. In it, they talked about a Rand Corporation study that found that drivers over 65 are a third as likely to cause accidents as drivers ages 15 to 24.
“By far, it is the youngest drivers who pose the greatest risk to traffic safety” researcher David Loughran said. Study findings indicate that older drivers account for roughly 15 percent of U.S. drivers, but that they only cause 7 percent of accidents. That rate is much lower than young drivers. I can already hear my neighbor’s teenager’s voice in my head, “Ohmigod, that’s so totally not true!” Certainly, it would be followed up with, “that’s so not fair!” and punctuated by, “god-duh!” I am not the parent of a teen, but I can be sure that — all research and statistics aside — the study will be perceived as another move by the Man to keep a kid down.
The reality, though, is that I’m sitting here wondering if I’m the only one not surprised. I would like to think that experience behind the wheel has a lot to do with how safe a driver you are. I would also guess that the novelty of driving has worn off a bit with older drivers. There’s been an interesting line of commentary in our Thinking Out Loud section about Rookie Driver magnets that attach to the cars of teens and other new drivers. Some folks think an “elderly driver” magnet would be just as appropriate. The Rand study seems to negate that argument. I mean, no one gets in massive accidents going in a straight line at 30 mph in a 45 mph zone with their left blinker on, do they? Someone had to say it.
One person argued that there should just be a “bad driver” magnet, but who would hand those out? No one wants to be pegged as a bad driver as a result of their age, and no one’s saying teens (or older folks) are inherently bad drivers. Again, I’ll bring up lack of experience. Many of those crazy teens grow up into almost totally normal adults who drive relatively well (how’s that for noncommittal?). Ultimately, it’s our job to work on our teens’ driving skills, and perhaps our own as well, to make the roads as safe as if we were all senior drivers. Seniors rule!
Does this take into account miles driven? Just because seniors make up 15 percent of licensed drivers doesn’t mean that they drive 15% of the time! How many of these seniors drive less than a couple thousand miles a year? That would easily account for the difference.
If you adjust this study to accidents per driven mile per age group, I’d be willing to be that seniors end up being worse than teenagers.
And no, I’m not a teenager.