99 year old on wrong side of road and no headlights in RV

Dutch_12078 wrote:
And a solution that would solve virtually nothing...

The 2016 fatal vehicle crash rates from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for instance, show that 16-19 year old drivers had the second highest rate at 17.8 fatalities per 100,000 drivers, only a little better than the 20-34 year old group at 21.6. The 70+ age group on the other hand, was the lowest at 13.1, with the next lowest the 35-69 year old group at 13.3. Those numbers would seem to indicate that no one should be allowed to drive until they're at least 35...

My favorite part about statistics is how they really don't mean anything...

Looking at the statistics at face value tells you very little.

First of all, how do we know how many "drivers" there are? Are they literally stopping every driver and asking their age, or are they compiling the numbers based upon people with active drivers licenses? I bet there are a LOT of people people aged 70+ that still have a drivers license but don't even drive a car anymore. Statistically speaking, those are the SAFEST "drivers" because they can NEVER be involved in a fatality, as opposed to someone who actually drives.

Second of all, these statistics say nothing about miles driven per year. Are the 70+ year old drivers in this study the people who drive to church and the post office... all on back roads and less than 3 miles from home? Are the 20-34 year olds the ones on the interstate, logging 30K miles a year? See how these numbers are skewed?

I'm sure I could find more variables that these numbers don't include. Like I mentioned... speeds of roadways (probably slower driving in the 70+ crowd)... alcohol/drug consumption (I'm sure the 70+ crowd has prescription drug issues, but the 20-34 year old is likely higher alcohol and illicit drug use)... vehicle condition (younger people might now have as nice of a car... but maybe the older crowd doesn't have newer safety features)... etc etc.

I love statistics, by the way. We can take IDENTICAL numbers and come up with diametrically opposed conclusions... But, I agree that it would likely be safer to raise the minimum driving age. I was stupid and full of self confidence at 16. I look back at decisions I made 21 years ago and am absolutely stunned I didn't hurt or kill myself or others.