Older drivers, who are less likely to survive severe crashes than any other age group, also tend to drive outdated vehicles that lack crucial safety features, recent studies from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show.
Researchers determined that crash fatalities could be reduced by 3 percent for drivers 70 and older and 5 percent for drivers 80 and older if they drove vehicles with the same safety profile as their middle-aged counterparts.
“The older drivers who participated in the survey didn’t appear to understand the value of today’s vehicle safety features,” Jessica Cicchino, IIHS vice president of research and a co-author of both studies says. “At the same time, they perceived less need to replace their older vehicles because they don’t drive many miles per year and think of low mileage as synonymous with overall vehicle safety.”
Read the article at IIHS.
