THE WHO AND WHEN OF ACCIDENT RISK: CAN DRIVER LICENSE PROGRAMS PROVIDE COUNTERMEASURES?

A CROSS SECTION OF EXPOSURE TRIPS FROM A STATE-CONDUCTED ORIGIN AND DESTINATION SURVEY WAS COMPARED WITH ACCIDENTS OCCURRING IN THE SAME GEOGRAPHICAL REGION AND AT THE SAME SEASON OF THE YEAR. EXPOSURE AND ACCIDENT TRIPS INCLUDED ONLY PASSENGER CARS DURING WEEDKAYS. AGE TRENDS FOR ACCIDENT RISK WERE COMPARABLE FOR BOTH MALE AND FEMALE DRIVERS. GENERALLY YOUNG DRIVERS UP TO AGE 25 WERE OVERREPRESENTED IN ACCIDENTS COMPARED TO THEIR PRESENCE IN THE POPULATION AT RISK. MALES AGE 25 THROUGH 54 AND FEMALES AGE 25 THROUGH 44 WERE UNDERREPRESENTED IN ACCIDENTS. AFTER THESE AGES RISK INCREASED, WITH A MARKED ELEVATION IN RISK AFTER AGE 65. THE HIGHEST RISK TIME OF DAY IS BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 6 AM. MOST AGE AND SEX GROUPS SHOWED AN ELEVATION IN RISK DURING THIS PERIOD, BUT FEMALE DRIVERS AND ELDERLY DRIVERS SHOWED THE MOST MARKED ELEVATIONS. THE ONLY OTHER PERIOD SHOWING A FAIRLY CONSISTENT ELEVATION IN RISK WAS BETWEEN 4 PM AND 6 PM, BUT ELEVATIONS HERE WERE MINOR COMPARED TO THOSE FOUND BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 6 AM. POSSIBLE WAYS ARE DISCUSSED IN WHICH DRIVER LICENSE PROGRAMS COULD MONITOR MORE CLOSELY THE DRIVING PERFORMANCE OF THOSE DRIVERS BELONGING TO HIGH RISK GROUPS.

• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Authors:
  • Reinfurt, D W
• Publication Date: 1973-6

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 67 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Crash investigation; Crash rates; Gender; High risk drivers; Night; Time
• Old TRIS Terms: Time factor
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222340
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 15 1974 12:00AM