TP 2436 E
Fact Sheet #RS 2002-04 E
September 2001

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document focuses on mature drivers who were involved in fatal and injury-producing motor vehicle traffic collisions between 1988 and 1998. The report reviews trends in the number of casualty collisions involving mature drivers and the number of mature driver fatalities and injuries. Statistics such as the gender and age group distributions of involved mature drivers are compared for the years 1988 and 1998.

Collisions that occurred during 1998 are examined in more detail. Collision characteristics such as time of day, day of the week, month, posted speed limit at the collision site, road conditions, traffic controls, number of vehicles involved, and collision configuration are used to describe the circumstances that were most commonly associated with collisions involving mature drivers. Driver and vehicle characteristics, which include vehicle type, safety restraint use, vehicle maneuver, and vehicle event, are also revealed. Although the cause of a collision cannot be determined from the Traffic Accident Information Database (TRAID), driver action was reviewed as a contributing factor.

Unless otherwise stated, the term "mature driver" refers to drivers 65 years of age or older, and "younger driver" refers to those aged 16 to 64 years.

Summary Findings

Over the eleven-year period from 1988 to 1998:

• The number of persons 65 years of age and older grew 1.8 times as fast as the total population. 
• Even though casualty-producing collisions have decreased over the period, mature driver involvement has increased. 
• In 1988, 10.5 percent of all fatal collisions involved at least one mature driver.
• By 1998, that number increased to 15.5 percent. The same situation occurred with injury-producing collisions involving a mature driver, which increased from 8.1 percent of total injury collisions in 1988 to 11.5 percent in 1998. 
• The average age of mature drivers in fatal collisions increased from 73 in 1988 to 74.2 by the end of the period. Similarly, in injury-producing collisions, the average age increased from 71.6 to 72.8 years old. 
• The number of mature drivers involved in collisions increased by 12.2 percent. The proportion of mature drivers killed remained unchanged at 1.4 percent of all mature drivers involved in casualty collisions, while the number that were injured increased from 42.9 to 46.6 percent of mature drivers involved.
  

In 1998,

• 3.7 million Canadians, or 12.3 percent of the population, were 65 years of age or older. Approximately 2.5 million or 70 percent of people in this age group are licensed to drive on public roads. 
• 61.5 percent of mature drivers in fatal crashes were killed and 23 percent suffered non-fatal injuries in those collisions. 
• Although mature drivers accounted for 7 percent of all drivers in casualty-producing collisions, they represented 15.6 percent of all driver fatalities. 
• Almost 75 percent of mature drivers involved in fatal collisions were driving an automobile. 
• Of the fatal collisions involving mature drivers, 30.6 percent were single-vehicle crashes and 56.5 percent involved two vehicles. By comparison, about 50 percent of all fatal collisions were single-vehicle crashes.

You may download the full report Mature Drivers in Casualty Motor Vehicle Collisions, 1988-1998 in Portable Document Format (PDF) (50 KB).  To view PDF documents you must use Adobe® Acrobat Reader. Visit the Adobe site to download the latest, free version.

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