Accident and Injury Risks of Elderly Car Occupants

The demographic change and the expected change in driving patterns of elderly require adoption of cars in larger scale to this group than it was the case in the past. This study focusses on the special situation of elderly as car driver (w.r.t. accident risk) and car occupant (w.r.t. injury risks). The main data sources for this study were accident studies from the literature (mainly CCIS and GIDAS focusing on frontal impacts with newer cars), German national accident data and general literature. Based on the findings from literature possibilities for adoption of cars for elderly drivers were developed. In addition to the accident situation additional needs of elderly w.r.t. car design and ergonomics were analysed. This analysis is also based on German national car registration statistics. Elderly car drivers have more often accidents in situations that are complex, e.g., crossings. In addition to that reaction time seems to cause additional risks. However, it needs to be stated that elderly are a very heterogenic group w.r.t. the ability to drive a car. Looking at the injury risks it is clear that elderly obtain more often severe injuries than younger occupants, e.g., the death rate in relation to the number of involved accidents is much higher. Looking at different body regions the main problem is associated to rip fractures. The impact speed is almost similar to this of younger drivers excluding very young drivers. Elderly car owners are using mainly three different groups of cars. The first group is composed of top seller cars; the second group are cars with a higher seating position that allows easier access into the car and suggests a better overview; finally premium cars are often registered for elderly. In order to improve car safety for elderly special conditioned driver assistance systems (e.g., crossing assistant) and smart restraint systems are required.