The greater threat to an older driver is the risk of fatality from an automobile crash. In contrast, teenaged drivers, on average, have a very high risk of crashing on an annual basis, regardless of miles driven, and pay much higher premiums for their automobile insurance. 4 Consequently, older drivers, on average, have little increase in their annual cost of automobile insurance during their transition from middle age. However, older persons drive markedly fewer miles annually than middle-aged drivers, resulting in an equivalent annualized risk for crashing. 3Ĭompared with middle-aged drivers, older drivers have about a 3-fold increased risk of crashing per mile driven. In contrast, elderly female drivers average 5000 miles per year, a 31% increase in driving exposure over the same period. Male drivers aged 65 years and older average about 10 000 miles of driving per year, an increase of 74% over the last 3 decades. In addition, driving exposure in the elderly population is at an all-time high. 1, 2 Both the aging of the post–World War II “baby boom” generation and an increasing proportion of women who drive among those turning 65 years old will contribute to a rapidly growing number of older drivers in the US population in the years ahead. The health and longevity of the elderly population in the United States are at unprecedented levels, and many older persons continue to drive throughout their eighth and ninth decades of life.
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