Study: Older Driver Fatalities On The Rise (NAPS)—According to experts, overall highway fatalities are declining nationwide. Unfortunately, the numberof older dri- vers—aged 70 and above—involved in fatal crashes continuestorise. A new study by The RoadInformation Program (TRIP), a nonprofit transportation research group based in Washington, D.C., shows that the numberof older drivers involved in traffic fatalities increased from 3,719 in 1989 to 4,934 in 1999, a 33 percent increase. At the sametime, overall For older Americans, improvements in road conditions and traffic fatalities dropped from 45,582 in 1989 to 41,345 in 1999— a nine percent decrease. The TRIP report, “Traffic Safety and Older Americans: Making traffic accidents. identified specific roadway improvements that can help reduce continues to age in the years ahead, it will become increasingly signage and larger lettering on that can help reduce accidents and savethelivesof all drivers as Roads Safer for Motorists,” also older driver fatalities. Among those improvements are clearer signs; overhead indicators for markers may help reduce fatal become increasingly important in the years ahead. “As our nation’s population important that we make the kind of roadway safety improvements turning lanes; better street lighting; and turn lanes of adequate width at intersections. well as older drivers,” he said. lighting, have better signage and president of the American Traffic “It makes sense to improve separate left-turn lanes with adequate width at intersections be- cause those improvements help address problem areas that older drivers have,” said William M. Wilkins, TRIP’s executive director. The TRIP report also identified the numberof older driver fatalities on a state-by-state basis. The states with the highest number of older driver fatalities are Florida, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Missouri, Georgia and Illinois. Recent federal reports on the Dennis “Chip” Sterndahl, presi- dent of Sterndahl Enterprises, Inc., in Sun Valley, CA whoalso is Safety Services Association, said the latest reflective and visual technology and products such as signs, strips and guardrails are helping to make a difference. Based primarily on its analysis of the 1998 Federal Highway Administration report, “Older Dri- ver Highway Design Handbook,” TRIP recommends the following safety improvements for improving older driver safety: e Signage andlighting: clearer and less complex signage that is easier to follow; larger lettering on signs; and better street lighting, needs of older drivers have found that the aging process gradually particularly at intersections. information processing ability and head street signs on both sides; leads to reduced visual acuity, slower reaction times, losses in reduced neck and upper body flex- ibility. Problems for older drivers often come at intersections, merging and weaving and interpreting a variety of traffic signs and sig- nals. In fact, for drivers aged 80 and above, more than half ofall fatal accidents occur at intersections, compared to one in four for drivers less than 50 yearsold. Wilkins said making needed roadway safety improvementswill Intersections: bright, luminous lane markings; overhead indicators for turning lanes; overand add or expandleft-turn lanes and makesure they are adequate in length. e Streets and highways: wider lanes and shoulders, particularly at intersections and curves, to reduce consequences of driving mistakes; longer merge and exit lanes; rumble strips to warn motorists when they are running off roads; and periodic passing lanes on busy two-laneroads.
