Aging and fatal accidents in male and female drivers

The effect of aging on fatal accident characteristics of male and female drivers was investigated using Finnish fatal-accident case study material from the period 1984-1990. Age-bound changes in accident characteristics (e.g., increase of at-fault accidents and of collisions in intersections) appeared in both sexes but seemed to affect female drivers at an earlier age and to a higher degree. When the sexes differed in accident characteristics, those of female drivers were more like the ones typically found in older drivers. The female drivers were also both quantitatively and qualitatively less experienced as drivers than their male counterparts. Thus, the lower resistance of women to the effects of aging on driving may be explained by their lower skill level. In future cohorts of old drivers, decrease of sex differences in experience will presumably attenuate the sex differences in accident characteristics.