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Are elderly drivers a risk?

On Behalf of | Aug 23, 2022 | Motor Vehicle Accidents

Adult children often worry about their parents’ driving as they get older. They may wonder if there’s a point where they need to ask them to give up their driver’s license. They may be worried that driving just isn’t safe anymore, both because their parents are frailer than they were at a younger age and because they may cause an accident.

This request to stop driving can be very hard for these elderly individuals to accept. It feels like giving up very important freedom that they have held for the majority of their life. Are they really a risk?

Driving skills can decrease

There’s no set age at which someone is no longer allowed to drive, but it is worth noting that skills can decrease over time. A lot of this just has to do with the process of aging. In this sense, it is unavoidable.

For example, if someone begins to lose their eyesight as they grow older, this can severely decrease visibility and can make it hard to do simple things like reading street signs. On the other hand, someone may have slower reaction times than they did when they were younger, or they may have physical limitations that make it harder to stay in control of the vehicle. All of these issues can cause crashes.

But, statistically speaking, elderly drivers are not nearly the greatest risk. Teenagers cause the most fatal car accidents annually. They may be far more physically capable of driving a car, but their lack of experience and knowledge makes them the most dangerous drivers.

If you get involved in an accident with another driver and suffer serious injuries, you may need to know how to seek financial compensation.