GENDER EFFECT ON THE ACCIDENT PATTERNS OF ELDERLY DRIVERS

This paper investigates gender distinctions in the accident involvement of older drivers. All multi-vehicle accidents that occurred in the state of Kentucky for the 1990-1992 time period were analyzed. 10-year age groups were created starting at age 15 and ending at age 75. The total number of accidents for this period was 188,493; in 178,195 of these accidents, the driver at fault could be determined from the accident database. The relative accident involvement ratio (RAIR) was obtained by calculating the ratio of the percentage of accidents in which the driver at fault was represented by a given age group (involvement) divided by the percentage of accidents in which the driver not at fault was represented by this same age group (exposure). Roughly 60% of all accidents were caused by males, whereas male drivers represent approximately 51% of drivers. Drivers aged 55 and older of both genders experienced overinvolvement in accidents, but older female drivers had a significantly higher ratio than their male cohorts under various conditions. The oldest age group (75 and older) had the highest RAIRs. In all cases examined, no gender distinctions in accident patterns were noted for drivers under age 55.

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• Corporate Authors:

  Sage Publications, Incorporated

  2455 Teller Road
  Thousand Oaks, CA  United States  91320
• Publication Date: 1996-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 8-22
• Serial:
  • Journal of Applied Gerontology
  • Volume: 15
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Sage Publications, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0733-4648

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Aged drivers; Automobile driving; Crash causes; Crash data; Crash risk forecasting; Females; Gender; High risk drivers; Males; Multiple vehicle crashes; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Relative accident involvement ratio
• Geographic Terms: Kentucky; United States
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00792537
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 4 2000 12:00AM