Impact of Road Conditions on Elderly Drivers

This study examines the characteristics of crashes that involve elderly drivers (age 65 and older) in the state of Kentucky on different road surface conditions (dry, wet, or snowy/slushy); the study also compares the crash rates of elderly males and females. The relative accident involvement ratio accounts for exposure by using the drivers of the not-at-fault vehicles in two-vehicle crashes. Statistical significance was tested using logistic regression. Overall, elderly males were found to have a higher relative accident involvement ratio than elderly females. This result is the reverse of that found in existing literature; suggesting changes during the 1990s in the population of elderly women drivers. All elderly drivers performed relatively better as the road conditions worsened from dry to wet to snowy. This result is not found for drivers under the age of 65 years, which may be explained by elderly driver experience or elderly drivers being more cautious in bad weather.