The Dangers of Road Life

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Recommended: An essay on elderly drivers

People think teenagers are the only horrid drivers. What they don’t think about is that there’s an age group of drivers who are far worse than teenagers.

Statistics show that people over the age of seventy cause more accidents and are in more accidents than teenage drivers. In 2008, more than 5,500 elders were killed in car accidents, and more than 183,00 were injured in car accidents(Older Adult Drivers). There are many reasons why elderly drivers are more likely to get into accidents that teenagers. Physical and mental changes are just some the causes of car accidents among elders. These include slowing down fast enough, the loss of clear vision and hearing, the loss of muscle strength and flexiblity, and drowsiness which cause reduction to the ability to focus on the surroundings while driving(West-Port News).

The most fatal crashes involving elders over the age of seventy, forty percent of these crashes occur at intersections. This percentage is compared to the age between thirty-five through fifty-four, which the percentage goes down to twenty-three. These crashes are due mostly to the failure the yield, or taking time to look in the opposite direction they were going. The percentage and age of elders in these crashes are eighty and older, with a fifty-eight percent rate. Eighteen of the U.S states require elderly drivers to renew their license, and take vision and hearing tests more than teenagers. The Senate has created two acts that have to do with the elder driving. SI929-The Act to Promote Safe Driving and SI901-The Act to Relative Certian Operators of Motor Vehicles(Elderly Driving Statistics).

Many states require elders to show that they are still capable of driving before they are issued a license. In all states, ...

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...5 Sep. 2011. Web. 8 May 2014.

Martin, Claire. “Most Lethal Driving Mistakes.” MNS Auto. Web. 13 May 2014.

“Old Adult Drivers: Get the Facts.” Injury Prevention and Control: Motor Vehicle Safety.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 31 Jan 2013. Web. 8 May 2014.

“Older Drivers.” Transport Accident Commission. Web. 13 May 2014.

Peters, R. “Ageing and the Brain.” Postcard Medical Journal. Feb. 2006. Web. 12 May 2014

“To Drive or Not to Drive.” Medicinenet.com. National Institute on Aging. 6 Jul 2004. Web.

8 May 2014.

“Should Elderly People Drive?” Web. www.debate.org 2013 9 May 2014

“Senior Driving” Facts and Research. Web. www.aaa.com 2011 9 May 2014

“Should Elderly Drivers be Retested?” www.westport-news.com Web. Hearst Media

Services. 9 May 2014

Span, Paula.”The New Old Age.” The New York Times. 27 May 2011. Web. 12 May

2014

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