What Does the CDC Think of Older Drivers? - Copy

It’s no secret that senior drivers are prone to losing some of their driving abilities. But a new report has found that drivers over the age of 65 are more than three times as likely to die in a highway-related traffic incident compared to drivers between ages 18-54, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The CDC examined 11,587 workers in the United States over the age of 18 who died in an occupational highway transportation incident during a three year stretch (2008-2010).

The agency found that nearly 27 percent of the fatalities involved workers over the age of 55, but fatality rates were the highest for drivers 65 and older (a rate of 3.1 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers). This was a much higher rate compared to drivers between the ages of 18 and 54 (0.9 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers).

The higher percentage places a focus on training programs for all drivers and on how to minimize risks for older workers. Fleet companies have tools at their disposal that help identify driver habits and can correct any issues moving forward.

Increasing Overall Driver Safety with Safety Analytics
Safety analytics software in Teletrac’s Fleet Director platform provides fleet drivers and managers with reports on problem areas in order to take any corrective actions necessary to maximize safety. This way managers can take a hands-on approach in monitoring driver behavior areas like harsh braking, speeding, harsh acceleration, stop sign violations and harsh cornering, so that it matches up with company safety guidelines.

Users are even privy to a safety event replay viewer, which allows them to revisit the unsafe events as they occurred. Replaying these dangerous events give all drivers clear insight and demonstrate areas that need improvement, all of which can greatly reduce the risk of a high-related fatality.

Use of safety analytics software has grown in the past few years, which may have helped contribute to the downward trend of overall highway traffic fatalities so far this year. According to preliminary data collected by the National Safety Council, deaths resulting from motor vehicle collisions during the first half of 2013 are down 5 percent compared to the same six month period from the previous year.