National Academies Press: OpenBook

Improving the Safety of Older Road Users (2005)

Chapter: Chapter One - Introduction

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Suggested Citation:"Chapter One - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Improving the Safety of Older Road Users. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13546.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter One - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Improving the Safety of Older Road Users. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13546.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter One - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Improving the Safety of Older Road Users. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13546.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter One - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Improving the Safety of Older Road Users. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13546.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter One - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2005. Improving the Safety of Older Road Users. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13546.
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3BACKGROUND One hundred years ago, when automobiles first began rolling off assembly lines in Detroit, the average life expectancy at birth in the United States was 47 years, and only 4% of the population was age 65 or older. A half century later, as the U.S. Congress was voting to fund the Interstate Highway Sys- tem, average life expectancy had risen to 68 years, and 8% of the population was age 65 or older. Today, the average male born in this country can expect to live to age 75, whereas the average female can expect to live to be 80. One in every eight persons is age 65 or above (“Older Americans 2000: Key Indi- cators of Well-Being” 2000; “Health, United States, 2003”). As the “baby boom” generation continues to move toward retirement age and beyond, the proportion of older U.S. res- idents will swell. The series of charts shown in Figure 1 demonstrate how the growing number of older adults is reshaping the overall age distribution of the U.S. population. By 2030, one of every five U.S. residents will be age 65 or older. Some states—Florida, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—will be reaching this number much sooner (see Figure 2). Older road users are not necessarily less safe drivers and pedestrians than younger road users. As measured by crash involvements per licensed driver, older drivers are among the safest on our roadways (see Figure 3). However, older driv- ers do experience higher crash rates per mile driven, and they are much more likely to be seriously or fatally injured in crashes (see Figure 4). This is primarily the result of an increase in the fragility that comes with age; when compared with younger drivers, older drivers are much more likely to be killed or seriously injured in their crashes (Lyman et al. 2002; Li et al. 2003). Adults age 65 or older are also more vulnerable as pedestrians. Although this age group comprises 13% of the U.S. population, it accounted for 21% of pedestri- ans killed in collisions with motor vehicles in 2003 (Traffic Safety Facts 2003 2004). Overall, older adults accounted for 15.6% of reported U.S. traffic fatalities in 2003 (Traffic Safety Facts 2003 2004). Unlike for other age groups, there has been little tar- geted activity to decrease these numbers. A U.S.DOT analy- sis of population-based traffic fatality rates over the 20-year period from 1980 to 1999 showed declines in every age group except for older adults (see Figure 5). The report notes that “Continued safety improvements for our older drivers and pedestrians need to be implemented to counter the potential for a major increase in older driver fatalities by 2030, as the elderly population doubles and drives far more miles than the present older generation” (“Safe Mobility for a Maturing Soci- ety . . .” 2003). Although fatality rates have begun to decline over the last 5 years (“Fatality Facts . . .” 2003), there is still much need for progress in light of the huge upcoming demo- graphic changes. Today’s older adults are healthier, wealthier, and consid- erably more mobile than older adults of the past. They are also heavily dependent on personal automobiles. According to the most recent National Household Travel Survey, 88% of all trips made by older adults are as drivers or passengers in personal vehicles (Pucher and Renne 2003). When com- pared with previous travel surveys, the population age 65 and older has increased its number of daily miles traveled and number of trips taken faster than any other age group. In recognition of the aging road user population and its potential implications for safety on our roadways, the U.S.DOT and many state transportation and highway safety agencies have begun implementing policies and programs to improve older road user safety. In many instances, they have joined with other agencies and with organizations in the private sector to broaden their impact. These activities have been directed at improving the roadway and driving environment to better accommodate older road users, helping older adults to be safer drivers and pedestrians, identifying and assisting unsafe drivers, and providing better alternative transportation for those unable to drive. Although aging is often accompa- nied by a decline in abilities related to driving, the overriding goal of these programs has been to help older adults continue to drive as long as they can do so safely and to provide viable alternative means of transportation when driving is no longer an option. The purpose of this synthesis report is to provide an overview of these various programs and activities. SYNTHESIS OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE The objective of this synthesis project is to document the range of strategies and related programs at the national, state, and local levels directed at improving the safety and mobility of older road users. Topic areas of interest include planning for the older road user, roadway engineering, driver licensing, CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

4FIGURE 1 The “squaring” of the U.S. population. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base.)

5public information and education, and enforcement and adju- dication. Omitted from the scope of this synthesis report are programs that address alternative transportation for older adults who cannot drive or who choose not to drive. It was decided by the project panel that this topic merited separate attention. Recognizing that activities in these important areas are not limited to state departments of transportation (DOTs), the synthesis includes information acquired from a variety of national and state agencies, organizations, and professional associations. SYNTHESIS APPROACH The project initially involved a review of the literature, begin- ning with a search of U.S.DOT, NHTSA, FHWA, and Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports and publications. This was supplemented by a review of pub- lished reports and articles on the TRIS (Transportation Infor- mation Systems) database, which captures a broader range of published literature. The focus of the literature search was pro- grams and policies to improve the safety of older road users. This initial effort was followed by a review of programs and activities by other agencies and organizations and by professional associations not captured in the published liter- ature, primarily through web-based searches and follow-up telephone contacts. Examples of contacts included the Administration on Aging, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), American Automobile Association (AAA) Foundation for Traffic Safety, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), American Medical 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 16 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 Age Cr a sh es pe r 1 ,0 00 D riv er s Male Female FIGURE 2 Percentage of population age 65 and older, by state, 2000. (Source: National Center for Health Statistics 2000.) FIGURE 3 Crashes per 1,000 licensed drivers, by age of driver. (Source: Williams and Shabanova 2003).

Association (AMA), and National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A). As is typical in this type of endeavor, there was often a snowball effect, with one contact producing leads to further contacts. Finally, separate surveys were developed to gather state- level information from the following four sources: • State DOTs (see Appendix A). • State motor vehicle departments, or DMVs (see Appen- dix D). • State highway safety offices (HSOs) (see Appendix F). • State units on aging (see Appendix H). The DOT survey was distributed electronically to the TRB- identified contact person in each state, and was also distrib- uted by a member of the project panel. The DMV survey was 6 mailed to DMV contacts in each state using a mailing list and cover letter provided by AAMVA. The HSO survey was sim- ilarly mailed using a listing provided by the Governor’s High- way Safety Association (GHSA). Both the AAMVA and the GHSA mailing lists sometimes contained more than one con- tact person per state, which could be expected to improve response rates. Finally, the N4A provided a listing for the distribution of the survey to the 51 state offices. The survey returns were gathered and information entered into a database for tabulations and summarizing. ORGANIZATION OF REPORT The following chapter summarizes the most relevant research reports and publications related to older road user safety 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 16 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 Age Fa ta l C ra sh es pe r 1 00 M illi on M ile s Male Female 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 <6 6-15 16-24 25-64 65-75 75+ Driver Age noital upoP 000 ,001/s eitilataF 1983-87 1988-92 1993-97 1998-02 FIGURE 4 Fatal crashes per 100 million miles traveled, by age of driver. (Source: Williams and Shabanova 2003.) FIGURE 5 Trends in fatalities per 100,000 population, by age of driver. (Source: 1983–2002 FARS.)

7programs and initiatives. The remaining chapters each focus on a specific area of intervention: chapter three on planning, chapter four on the roadway and driving environment, chap- ter five on driver licensing, chapter six on education and awareness, and chapter seven on law enforcement. Chapter eight highlights overall good practices, and chapter nine pro- vides the summary and conclusions. The results of the various surveys are integrated into the chapters. The DOT survey results appear primarily in chapters three and four, the DMV survey results in chapter five, and the Office of Highway Safety and State Unit on Aging survey results in chapter six, with portions dealing with enforcement incorporated into chapter seven. Detailed results from each of the surveys are contained in the appendices.

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TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 348: Improving the Safety of Older Road Users examines programs and policies in place across the country to improve the safety and mobility of older road users. The report documents a range of strategies and related programs under way in roadway engineering, driver licensing, public information and education, and enforcement and adjudication.

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