A pattern analysis of traffic crashes fatal to older drivers

A synthesis of the various crash circumstances in which older drivers die is lacking. This study is based on data from Sweden's national archive of fatal RTCs, and focuses on crashes in which the deceased driver was aged 65+ (2002-2004; n=152). Crash patterns were identified by means of cluster analysis using a sub-set of 12 variables describing both driver and crash event characteristics. Crashes where the driver had died of natural causes prior to crash made up 19.7% of the cases (30 crashes) and were mainly single crashes. Four additional clusters were also identified. Two involved making left turns at intersections, one over-represented among men, occurring typically at weekends, in low-speed areas (30.6%), and the second one, over-represented among women, consisting of crashes in dry road conditions, and on intermediate-speed roads (21.5%). A third cluster included head-on and single-vehicle crashes occurring in dry road conditions but on high-speed roads (29.8%). The last cluster consisted of crashes occurring during the winter and on high-speed roads (18.2%). Older drivers die in traffic in various circumstances, sometimes prior to crashing. Some circumstances cannot be easily alleviated but others could, e.g., through modifications of the road traffic environment and car active safety measures that can help compensate for age-related shortcomings.