Bonnie Dobbs of the U.of A. MARD Centre, stated on CBC radio, The Homestretch
“Drivers aged 70 years and older become the most dangerous drivers on the road”.
Unfortunately Ms. Dobbs continues to use outdated, 2001 data.
A study dated February 4, 2014. “OLDER DRIVERS DO NOT HAVE A HIGH CRASH RISK-
A REPLICATION OF LOW MILEAGE BIAS” authors, Langford, Methorst & Hakamies-Blomqvist,
found that
“When the crash rates of drivers of different ages were compared after being matched
for yearly driving distance, most drivers aged 75 years and above were indicatively
safer than all other drivers”.
– Further more, the fact that seniors are safe drivers, has now been reinforced
by the powerful United States Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
They stated, in a study made public February 14, 2014 by Joan Lowry of the Associated
Press, that they were wrong in thinking that an older population would lead to more
accidents, just the reverse has happened.
“The main point is that these 70-80 year olds are really different than their
predecessors,” said Alan Pisarski, author of the authoritative “Commuting in America”
series reports on driving trends.

“They learned to drive in a very different era. They are far more comfortable driving
in freeway situations.
“This matters immensely for the future because we are seeing dramatic increases in older
workers staying in the labor force and continuing to work and commute well past 65”.

Indeed. In Alberta, over 60,000 seniors are fully employed in the workforce.

December 9, 2014