Older people

Overview

In 2020, motor vehicle crashes accounted for less than 1% of fatalities among people 70 and older (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2021).

People ages 70 and older are less likely to be licensed to drive compared with younger people, and drivers 70 and older also drive fewer miles. However, older drivers are keeping their licenses longer and driving more miles than in the past.

Per mile traveled, fatal crash rates increase noticeably starting at age 70-74 and are highest among drivers 85 and older. The increased fatal crash risk among older drivers is largely due to their increased susceptibility to injury, particularly chest injuries, and medical complications, rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes (Cicchino, 2015).

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Posted June 2024.

Trends

A total of 5,626 people ages 70 and older died in motor vehicle crashes in 2022. This is a 49% increase since 1975. Deaths of older people increased by 7% from 2021 to 2022. Though deaths are increasing, the rate of fatalities per capita among older people has decreased 45% since 1975.

Motor vehicle crash deaths and deaths per 100,000 people 70 and older, 1975-2022

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people 70 years and older, 1975-2022
Year	Population	Deaths	Rate
1975	14,563,945	3,775	25.9
1976	14,960,120	3,896	26.0
1977	15,401,249	3,859	25.1
1978	15,876,541	3,824	24.1
1979	16,388,617	3,772	23.0
1980	16,897,977	3,861	22.8
1981	17,322,714	3,871	22.3
1982	17,783,888	3,655	20.6
1983	18,233,751	3,734	20.5
1984	18,662,938	4,052	21.7
1985	19,072,785	4,206	22.1
1986	19,463,480	4,445	22.8
1987	19,890,817	4,555	22.9
1988	20,302,280	4,925	24.3
1989	20,719,397	4,943	23.9
1990	21,164,283	4,844	22.9
1991	21,751,897	4,843	22.3
1992	22,321,217	4,901	22.0
1993	22,800,673	5,221	22.9
1994	23,243,845	5,425	23.3
1995	23,693,757	5,509	23.3
1996	24,056,323	5,578	23.2
1997	24,408,817	5,872	24.1
1998	24,793,551	5,798	23.4
1999	25,092,805	5,657	22.5
2000	25,559,879	5,379	21.0
2001	25,797,467	5,425	21.0
2002	26,005,326	5,332	20.5
2003	26,200,946	5,363	20.5
2004	26,337,518	5,106	19.4
2005	26,658,669	5,047	18.9
2006	26,884,798	4,636	17.2
2007	27,135,517	4,631	17.1
2008	27,521,034	4,291	15.6
2009	27,786,270	3,995	14.4
2010	27,957,657	4,171	14.9
2011	28,472,279	4,071	14.3
2012	29,152,093	4,113	14.1
2013	30,040,362	4,150	13.8
2014	30,864,009	4,206	13.6
2015	31,624,778	4,427	14.0
2016	32,406,486	4,848	15.0
2017	33,964,043	5,037	14.8
2018	35,290,306	5,026	14.2
2019	36,592,368	5,232	14.3
2020	37,785,698	4,593	12.2
2021	37,453,633	5,245	14.0
2022	39,163,430	5,626	14.4

Seventy-one percent of people 70 and older killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2022 were passenger vehicle occupants, and 18% were pedestrians. Since 1997, deaths of older passenger vehicle occupants have declined 16%, and deaths of older pedestrians have risen 7%. Although few older adults are killed while riding motorcycles, this number has risen. Over 11 times as many motorcyclists 70 years and older were killed in 2022 than in 1997.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among people 70 and older, 1975-2022
Year	Passenger vehicle occupant deaths		Pedestrian deaths		Motorcyclist deaths		Other motor vehicle deaths		All motor vehicle deaths
Year	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number
1975	2,302	61	1,348	36	5	<1	120	3	3,775
1976	2,490	64	1,291	33	9	<1	106	3	3,896
1977	2,370	61	1,383	36	14	<1	92	2	3,859
1978	2,515	66	1,214	32	16	<1	79	2	3,824
1979	2,391	63	1,277	34	16	<1	88	2	3,772
1980	2,399	62	1,344	35	21	1	97	3	3,861
1981	2,495	64	1,278	33	22	1	76	2	3,871
1982	2,430	66	1,124	31	16	<1	85	2	3,655
1983	2,547	68	1,081	29	29	1	77	2	3,734
1984	2,764	68	1,164	29	32	1	92	2	4,052
1985	2,933	70	1,170	28	17	<1	86	2	4,206
1986	3,166	71	1,157	26	18	<1	104	2	4,445
1987	3,276	72	1,160	25	23	1	96	2	4,555
1988	3,540	72	1,271	26	29	1	85	2	4,925
1989	3,658	74	1,180	24	14	<1	91	2	4,943
1990	3,525	73	1,195	25	26	1	98	2	4,844
1991	3,690	76	1,044	22	22	<1	87	2	4,843
1992	3,801	78	997	20	18	<1	85	2	4,901
1993	4,076	78	1,012	19	30	1	103	2	5,221
1994	4,291	79	1,021	19	25	<1	88	2	5,425
1995	4,368	79	1,008	18	16	<1	117	2	5,509
1996	4,492	81	951	17	24	<1	111	2	5,578
1997	4,748	81	931	16	27	<1	166	3	5,872
1998	4,683	81	965	17	28	<1	122	2	5,798
1999	4,587	81	885	16	30	1	155	3	5,657
2000	4,406	82	807	15	42	1	124	2	5,379
2001	4,389	81	878	16	42	1	116	2	5,425
2002	4,287	80	845	16	50	1	150	3	5,332
2003	4,377	82	777	14	56	1	153	3	5,363
2004	4,113	81	763	15	48	1	182	4	5,106
2005	4,016	80	777	15	79	2	175	3	5,047
2006	3,681	79	707	15	76	2	172	4	4,636
2007	3,661	79	726	16	89	2	155	3	4,631
2008	3,401	79	603	14	127	3	160	4	4,291
2009	3,194	80	578	14	91	2	132	3	3,995
2010	3,246	78	628	15	137	3	160	4	4,171
2011	3,109	76	637	16	147	4	178	4	4,071
2012	3,081	75	707	17	150	4	175	4	4,113
2013	3,123	75	666	16	177	4	184	4	4,150
2014	3,136	75	729	17	124	3	217	5	4,206
2015	3,346	76	719	16	164	4	198	4	4,427
2016	3,586	74	822	17	207	4	233	5	4,848
2017	3,763	75	821	16	232	5	221	4	5,037
2018	3,665	73	911	18	212	4	238	5	5,026
2019	3,810	73	888	17	251	5	283	5	5,232
2020	3,251	71	777	17	267	6	298	6	4,593
2021	3,783	72	859	16	307	6	296	6	5,245
2022	3,998	71	995	18	310	6	323	6	5,626

In 2022, 59% of the deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers 70 and older were the older drivers themselves, and 12% were their passengers. Twenty-nine percent of deaths were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians. In contrast, in crashes involving at least one passenger vehicle driver younger than 30, 38% of the deaths were the drivers younger than 30, 17% were their passengers, and 45% were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians.

Deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers younger than 30, ages 30-69, and 70 and older, by type of road user, 2022
	Deaths involving at least one driver younger than 30		Deaths involving at least one driver age 30-69		Deaths involving at least one driver 70 or older
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Deaths in passenger vehicles with a driver that age
Drivers	5,372	38	11,079	46	3,085	59
Passengers	2,434	17	2,987	12	637	12
Deaths of other passenger vehicle occupants	3,241	23	3,440	14	615	12
Motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians	3,264	23	6,577	27	915	17
Total*	14,404	100	24,249	100	5,276	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Population and mileage rates

Looked at by age group, 2022 motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 population begin increasing for males at ages 75-79 and females at age 70-74. Males had substantially higher death rates than females for ages 16 and older.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2022

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2022
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<16	32,661,995	767	2.3	31,171,958	567	1.8	63,833,953	1,336	2.1
16-19	8,828,942	1,679	19.0	8,410,284	723	8.6	17,239,226	2,406	14.0
20-24	11,601,988	3,036	26.2	11,103,791	1,099	9.9	22,705,779	4,140	18.2
25-29	11,352,742	3,069	27.0	10,840,422	1,015	9.4	22,193,164	4,088	18.4
30-34	11,836,820	2,930	24.8	11,471,316	1,079	9.4	23,308,136	4,016	17.2
35-39	11,302,300	2,651	23.5	10,965,649	867	7.9	22,267,949	3,521	15.8
40-44	10,817,889	2,397	22.2	10,609,527	783	7.4	21,427,416	3,181	14.8
45-49	9,844,989	2,056	20.9	9,779,109	704	7.2	19,624,098	2,762	14.1
50-54	10,434,641	2,177	20.9	10,372,906	747	7.2	20,807,547	2,926	14.1
55-59	10,373,923	2,222	21.4	10,593,091	771	7.3	20,967,014	2,999	14.3
60-64	10,297,980	2,241	21.8	10,820,443	724	6.7	21,118,423	2,968	14.1
65-69	8,873,901	1,707	19.2	9,757,521	635	6.5	18,631,422	2,345	12.6
70-74	7,036,771	1,348	19.2	8,120,246	597	7.4	15,157,017	1,946	12.8
75-79	4,909,686	993	20.2	5,951,314	548	9.2	10,861,000	1,543	14.2
80-84	2,825,159	663	23.5	3,834,386	403	10.5	6,659,545	1,070	16.1
≥85	2,283,827	633	27.7	4,202,041	429	10.2	6,485,868	1,067	16.5
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Using miles traveled data from the National Household Travel Survey, the rate of passenger vehicle driver fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled in 2016-17 begins to increase at ages 70-74. Drivers 85 and older had the highest rate of fatal crash involvement during that period.

Passenger vehicle fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled by driver age, April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017

Passenger vehicle fatal crash rates per 100 million miles traveled, by driver age, April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017
Age	Crash involvements	Miles	Rate
16-19	3,023	62,410,423,548	4.8
20-24	5,615	172,158,820,127	3.3
25-29	4,963	213,487,256,997	2.3
30-34	4,052	228,055,122,817	1.8
35-39	3,290	235,513,924,779	1.4
40-44	2,933	221,981,057,921	1.3
45-49	2,868	211,720,351,245	1.4
50-54	2,954	229,997,362,385	1.3
55-59	2,791	216,227,224,007	1.3
60-64	2,397	195,073,278,082	1.2
65-69	2,003	149,557,419,942	1.3
70-74	1,468	87,458,953,733	1.7
75-79	1,094	51,982,073,748	2.1
80-84	882	20,669,598,896	4.3
≥85	858	11,313,581,400	7.6
Total*	41,234	2,307,606,449,627	1.8
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crash types

Among passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2022, the proportion in multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections increases steadily with age starting at 65-69. Multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections accounted for 39% of fatal crash involvements among drivers 80 and older, compared with 21% for drivers ages 16-59.

Passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes by age and crash type, 2022
Age	Multiple-vehicle intersection crashes		Other multiple-vehicle crashes		Single-vehicle intersection crashes		Other single-vehicle crashes		All crashes*
Age	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
16-19	779	24	1,065	33	177	6	1,191	37	3,212	100
20-24	1,138	21	2,171	39	308	6	1,933	35	5,550	100
25-29	1,042	20	2,160	42	261	5	1,670	33	5,133	100
30-34	972	20	2,086	42	275	6	1,629	33	4,962	100
35-39	876	20	1,891	44	201	5	1,323	31	4,291	100
40-44	812	22	1,589	42	190	5	1,148	31	3,739	100
45-49	656	21	1,437	45	124	4	951	30	3,168	100
50-54	686	22	1,314	43	153	5	927	30	3,080	100
55-59	665	22	1,310	44	173	6	853	28	3,001	100
60-64	601	22	1,173	43	144	5	796	29	2,714	100
65-69	597	27	928	42	95	4	607	27	2,227	100
70-74	562	30	708	38	75	4	509	27	1,854	100
75-79	475	33	523	36	62	4	388	27	1,448	100
80-84	324	34	345	36	49	5	232	24	950	100
≥85	367	46	234	29	36	4	165	21	802	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Pedestrians

Among adults 70 and older, the rate of pedestrian deaths per 100,000 population in 2022 was lowest for people ages 85 and above. For ages 13 and older, the rate of pedestrian deaths per capita was higher for males than females.

Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2022
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<13	25,981,412	78	0.3	24,812,058	63	0.3	50,793,470	141	0.3
13-15	6,680,583	45	0.7	6,359,900	32	0.5	13,040,483	77	0.6
16-19	8,828,942	108	1.2	8,410,284	67	0.8	17,239,226	175	1.0
20-24	11,601,988	285	2.5	11,103,791	140	1.3	22,705,779	426	1.9
25-29	11,352,742	423	3.7	10,840,422	170	1.6	22,193,164	594	2.7
30-34	11,836,820	457	3.9	11,471,316	223	1.9	23,308,136	683	2.9
35-39	11,302,300	518	4.6	10,965,649	175	1.6	22,267,949	694	3.1
40-44	10,817,889	468	4.3	10,609,527	189	1.8	21,427,416	657	3.1
45-49	9,844,989	382	3.9	9,779,109	162	1.7	19,624,098	545	2.8
50-54	10,434,641	427	4.1	10,372,906	152	1.5	20,807,547	581	2.8
55-59	10,373,923	490	4.7	10,593,091	163	1.5	20,967,014	657	3.1
60-64	10,297,980	519	5.0	10,820,443	172	1.6	21,118,423	694	3.3
65-69	8,873,901	360	4.1	9,757,521	140	1.4	18,631,422	502	2.7
70-74	7,036,771	277	3.9	8,120,246	123	1.5	15,157,017	400	2.6
75-79	4,909,686	179	3.6	5,951,314	95	1.6	10,861,000	275	2.5
80-84	2,825,159	116	4.1	3,834,386	62	1.6	6,659,545	181	2.7
≥85	2,283,827	98	4.3	4,202,041	41	1.0	6,485,868	139	2.1
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Alcohol

Ten percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers 70 years and older in 2022 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.08%, compared with 21% for drivers ages 60-69 and 37% for drivers ages 16-59.

Fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08% by age, 2022
Age	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08
Age	Number	Number	%
16-59 years	14,077	5,223	37
60-69 years	2,340	500	21
≥70 years	3,085	305	10