Older American Drivers and Traffic Safety Culture: A LongROAD Study

According to research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 86% of Americans ages 65 and older still drive, meaning that there are presently approximately 36 million drivers ages 65 and older. As older people remain healthier for longer, driving will undoubtedly continue to play a major role in their ability to stay mobile, independent, and engaged in their community. Hence, there is a need to better understand and delineate the changes that occur in the attitudes and perceptions of older drivers as they continue to age. The majority of previous studies have treated drivers aged 65 and older as a single group. However, “older senior drivers” (e.g., ages 80 and older) might differ in important ways from “younger senior drivers.” The purpose of the research reported here was to examine the extent and nature of the variability in driving behaviors and safety-related attitudes among drivers ages 65-69, 70-74, and 75+, using data from the AAA Foundation’s annual Traffic Safety Culture Index survey.