The Nation’s Senior Speed Junkies — Should We Worry?

As the nation’s baby boomers have grown older, the number of drivers considered to be “seniors” has grown significantly over the last couple of decades. In the decade spanning 2012 to 2022, the number of senior drivers jumped 43%.

Since 2000 the increase is 68%.

Many of these seniors grew up driving vehicles that were seriously faster than what their parents drove. So many of them tend to drive a bit faster than the rest of us.

How many, and the dangers, were analyzed by Hasbrook and Hasbrook Personal Attorneys. The company mined data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Highway and Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) to help define the problem.

Clayton Hasbrook of Hasbrook and Hasbrook said his company found Wyoming with the most speed junkie crashes per 10,000 of population. Four PIA Western Alliance States are in the top-10 states.

“The data on senior speeding challenges popular assumptions about risk and road safety, revealing a complex interplay between age, driving behavior, and regional factors,” he said. “While media attention often focuses on age-related driving impairments, this geographical pattern of ‘speed junkie’ seniors suggests that driving habits established in youth may persist into retirement, with environmental factors and local driving cultures potentially playing a more significant role for America’s rapidly growing elderly driver population.”

Overall, the most fatal crashes caused by seniors in the last five years is over 1,000 in South Carolina. Texas has the most senior citizen crashes per capita. Here’s the list:

1. Wyoming

Accidents involving seniors: 146

Number of seniors age 65 and over: 103,600

Seniors per 10,000 of population caught speeding: 14.09

2. South Carolina

Accidents involving seniors: 1,020

Number of seniors age 65 and over: 970,000

Seniors per 10,000 of population caught speeding: 10.52

3. Arizona

Accidents involving seniors: 1,376

Number of seniors age 65 and over: 1.4 million

Seniors per 10,000 of population caught speeding: 10.23

4. New Mexico

Accidents involving seniors: 397

Number of seniors age 65 and over: 392,000

Seniors per 10,000 of population caught speeding: 10.12

5. Alaska

Accidents involving seniors: 91

Number of seniors age 65 and over: 96,200

Seniors per 10,000 of population caught speeding: 9.46

6. Montana

Accidents involving seniors: 204

Number of seniors age 65 and over: 216,200

Seniors per 10,000 of population caught speeding: 9.43

7. Texas

8. Missouri

9. Colorado

10. Utah

Source link: Hasbrook & Hasbrook — https://bit.ly/45dagNk