Crime & Safety
On the Road: Who Worries You Most?
Older drivers and teens come in for critical comments.
Two serious accidents in four days involving older drivers have provoked a debate about age and road safety.
On Saturday, police said, a 79-year-old man backing out of White Post Farms struck five cars and a pregnant woman, seriously injuring her. The driver said his foot slipped off the brake pedal and onto the accelerator.
Tuesday afternoon, a 79-year-old woman turning into a Huntington Station gas station was involved in a collision with a motorcyclist.
While some online commenters rushed to criticize older drivers, others noted that teenagers were more dangerous. Consumer Reports reviewed government and industry data and concluded that the crash rate for drivers ages 16 and 17, for example, is almost nine times as high as that for middle-aged drivers. People 80 and older are involved in 5.5 times as many fatal crashes per mile driven as middle-aged drivers. And the CDC said that while fatal crash rates increase starting at age 75, it is mostly because of "susceptibility to injury and medical complications among older drivers rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes."
What kinds of drivers worry you most? Do you avoid certain drivers because of their age?
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