Who is more apt to cause death.......teen drivers or over 65 drivers?

Question

In Anderson Co TX 99% of all fatal wrecks involving more than one vehicle were caused by someone over 65. If they cannot see, hear, or hold their **** in why do people think they can still drive? I think it is funny how they complain about loud music because they did not have any hobbies growing up.

Folks, you are not reading the full question....I am NOT talking about single vehicle accidents(although I do not think they should be called "accidents"), but muliple vehles.

Wow, there are some illiterate folks out there....maybe I'm too foggy.
Her goes the explanation: Old people drive tanks. I was referring to the people like the elderly fellow who killed a 19 yo kid on a bike (the old guy ran a red light). An old lady got hit by an 18-wheeler....she thought her Caddy owned the road.....she did NOT yield. I did not say the old ones are dying, I said they are killing.

Answer 1

Actually nationwide teen drivers are involved in more wrecks. Most teens and I did it too when I was one, feel they can drive as good as anyone, when the truth is it takes experience to know what to do to avoid an accident.

Answer 2

I strongly believe that teens are more likely to cause accidents. My reasoning behind this is the fact that they are inexperienced, often have many distractions in and around the vehicle and often have had too little driver training. Loud music, use of cell phones, eating, drinking, texting...all are major distractions and those distractions can KILL.

What happened to when a road test meant actually going out on a ROAD?? When I did mine (some 20+ years ago), I was even on the freeway in addition to surface streets with heavy traffic. Nowadays, it seems that many exams are done on courses plotted in a parking lot.

While the slowed reaction times and age-related problems are more common among seniors, they have been driving for many years and have the experience to be out there. Also, most seniors are aware of those difficulties and made adjustments accordingly (driving slower, going less distance, only driving in the right lane and so forth). You also don't hear ear-drum rupturing music coming from a senior's car. They tend not to use cell phones while driving. They are more cautious.

I have yet to pull a dead or seriously injured senior citizen out of a wrecked car. I have pulled more than a few dead or seriously injured teens out. Go figure.

EMT

Let me also add that when I was 16, I was in a near-fatal car accident because I was inexperienced, driving too fast and taking crazy chances (I was thrown through the windshield). I was lucky to survive. When I see kids drive like that these days, I want to kick them in the *** and scream "What are you thinking??" in their faces. Maybe if I hadn't been such a stupid kid that thought I was invincible, I wouldn't see my scarred face everytime I look in the mirror.

One final point...as an EMT, I obviously drive an ambulance. One other poster on mentioned that they are a NSC instructor. That is something I am all too familiar with...considering I'm certified through the NSC in EVOC...or Emergency Vehicle Operations.

Answer 3

I get asked questions similar to this one all the time. The answer never changes. If the crash data is arranged on a graph then it will show a reverse, or upside down bell curve. The crash data shows that the most crashes actually happen to the younger drivers but the over 70 part of the graph is comparably close to that of the under 25.

The explaination of this is simple. Young drivers are less experienced and do not know how to react to thing appropriately. For example, a rabbit darts into the roadway directly in front of the vehicle and the young driver immediately reacts by a quick jerk to the left and stomping on the brakes causing a crash to occur. It has also been studied and is widely believed that younger drivers will take more chances where others would not. An example of this might be that a young driver is sitting at a stop sign and the traffic on the opposing approaches to the intersection is heavy and there a few small gaps in traffic. They will jump into the traffic and slam on the gas to quickly accelerate to the speed of those in front of them. They take chances where other drivers would have waited for a larger gap in traffic.

Older drivers do not see as well as younger drivers. That is why there is a national movement to make print larger on signs both ground mounted signs and those overhead. Because of failing eyesight the older driver has to concentrate a lot more to understand what is going on around them where other drivers are able to take in their surroundings at a glance. The reaction time of older drivers is also slower. With cars getting faster and faster and speed limits on roads being ignored more and more, driving conditions are requiring people to be able to not only comprehend what is going on around them quickly but to also react quickly.

I know this explaination of crash patterns is lengthy but understand it does not even scratch the surface. The thing is older drivers have organizations that fight to protect their rights to drive, but the younger drivers do not have anyone to protect theirs. The thing is that no matter what age the country has as a minimum driving age they will see increase crashes for that age range.

Answer 4

The 65 year olds that I know don't seem all that ancient to me and in general are more cautious, experienced drivers.

On the other hand, I have had 7 of my students and former students die in car wrecks over the past 6 years. The majority of those crashes involved the teen driving at a high rate of speed when the impact occurred.

I don't know what the national statistics are, but yours seem off to me, based on personal experience.

Answer 5

15 to 20 year-old drivers are the highest risk group for a fatal crash? Seventy percent of fatalities in this age group involve the use of alcohol. Night driving statistics are even worse:


Young drivers average about 20 percent of their driving at night – yet they account for more than 50% of all nighttime crash fatalities!

Of that 50+ percent, 21% of those involved were intoxicated by alcohol.

Answer 6

I have years of research that indicates your statistic is false. You, either heard or read that, somewhere, or you made it up, just to support your own, personal, crusade against those who are STATISTICALLY proven to be the safest drivers.

You might wish to take note that insurace rates, typically go DOWN as a driver gets older, and has a proven good driving record. Please, also note that insurance rates are HIGHEST for male drivers between the ages of sixteen and twenty five. Insurance companies don't do this to manipulate traffic statistics. They do this in order to minimize their losses.

Get off your rant. You just come across as silly! (loud music? hobbies? Did grandma used to spank you for mouthing off to her?)

Answer 7

See the teens are the people who are doing 60mph in a 25mph zone, speeding and weaving through traffic but the old folks are the people who have no depth perception and pull out in front of you when your going 50 mph or just flat out don't see cars coming, so both are usually dumb drivers so I think both are death traps.

Answer 8

Teen drivers hands down, they feel invincible and take greater risks, testosterone in boys tends to shut down the common sense part of the brain.

Answer 9

59% of all accidents are caused by teen drivers.

Answer 10

99%? That's not a made up statistic at all, is it?