AGE COMPARISONS IN AUTOMOBILE CRASH INJURY

DATA ON 26,641 OCCUPANTS, 20 THROUGH 39 YEARS OF AGE, WERE COMPARED WITH DATA ON 4,832 OCCUPANTS 60 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER, IN INJURY-PRODUCING MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS DESCRIPTIVE OF GENERAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO AGE GROUPS, THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE:(1) MEMBERS OF THE OLDER GROUP ARE MORE LIKELY TO OCCUPY NON-DRIVING SEATS IN THE CAR. (2) THE OLDER GROUP IS INVOLVED IN LESS SEVERE ACCIDENTS THAN THE YOUNGER GROUP. (3) THE OLDER GROUP IS LESS FREQUENTLY INVOLVED IN ROLLOVER ACCIDENTS THAN THE YOUNGER GROUP AND, (4) THERE ARE RELATIVELY MORE FEMALES IN THE OLDER GROUP. SINCE THESE DIFFERENCES ARE LIKELY TO AFFECT INJURY RISK COMPARISONS IN FAVOR OF THE OLDER GROUP, INJURY COMPARISONS WERE MADE ON AN ADJUSTED BASIS, THAT IS, WITHIN IDENTICAL VARIETIES OF ACCIDENTS. THESE COMPARISONS RESULTED IN THE FOLLOWING: (1) THE OLDER OCCUPANTS ARE INJURED SIX PER CENT MORE OFTEN THAN THE YOUNGER OCCUPANTS. (2) ONCE INJURED, THE OLDER OCCUPANTS INCUR NEARLY AS HIGH A RISK OF DANGEROUS OR FATAL INJURY AS THE YOUNGER OCCUPANTS. AND (3) THESE FINDINGS HOLD BOTH SEXES, FOR ALL SEATED POSITIONS, FOR ALL ACCIDENT TYPES, AND FOR ACCIDENTS OF DIFFERENT SEVERITY. /SRIS/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Rept No Vj-1823-R12, 17 PP, 11 TAB, 3 REF
• Corporate Authors:

  Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Incorporated

  4455 Genesee Street
  Buffalo, NY  United States  14221
• Authors:
  • Hopens, T
• Publication Date: 1965-1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Crash severity; Fatalities; Gender; Injuries; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Motor vehicle accidents
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220818
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 9 1970 12:00AM