Factors Leading to Older Drivers’ Intersection Crashes
Older drivers are overinvolved in intersection crashes compared with younger drivers, but the reasons are not clearly understood. The purpose of the present study was to identify the factors that lead to older drivers’ intersection crashes. Study participants were comprised of two groups of older drivers — ages 70-79 (n = 78) and 80 and older (n = 76) — and a comparison group of drivers ages 35-54 (n = 73); all were at fault in intersection crashes involving nonfatal injuries. Police crash reports, telephone interviews with at-fault drivers, and photographs of intersections were used to determine the kinds of driver actions and errors that led to the intersection crashes. Drivers 80 and older had fewer rear-end crashes than drivers ages 35-54 and 70-79, and both groups of older drivers had fewer ran-off-road crashes than drivers ages 35-54. Crashes where drivers failed to yield the right-of-way increased with age and occurred mostly at stop-sign-controlled intersections, generally when drivers were turning left. The reasons for failure-to-yield crashes tended to vary by age. Compared with drivers ages 35-54 and 80 and older, drivers ages 70-79 made more evaluation errors — seeing another vehicle but misjudging whether there was adequate time to proceed. In contrast, drivers 80 and older predominantly failed to see or detect the other vehicle. Drivers ages 35-54 also tended to make search errors, but theirs’ were due more often to distraction. Factors leading to intersection crashes vary with age, even between two age groups of older drivers. Because the number of older drivers is projected to increase, it is important to reduce the frequency and severity of their intersection crashes by adopting countermeasures addressing errors commonly leading to such crashes. Roundabouts and protected left turn lanes at signalized intersections may help to reduce failure-to-yield crashes at intersections, especially among older drivers.
- Record URL:
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Corporate Authors:
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
1005 North Glebe Road
Arlington, VA United States 22201 -
Authors:
- Braitman, Keli A
- Kirley, Bevan B
- Chaudhary, Neil K
- Ferguson, Susan A
- Publication Date: 2006
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Web
- Features: References; Tables;
- Pagination: 14p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Age; Aged drivers; Countermeasures; Distraction; Driver errors; Drivers; Highway safety; Intersections; Left turns; Ran off road crashes; Rear end crashes; Right of way (Traffic); Roundabouts; Signalized intersections; Stop signs; Traffic crashes
- Uncontrolled Terms: Failure to yield right-of-way; Protected left turns
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01054041
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jul 20 2007 9:57AM