The surprising results of a recent study indicate that senior drivers are not causing more crashes than they used to. Nor are they dying more often in crashes, even though they hold onto their driving licenses longer.

Photos: Gordon McDonald

Surprisingly, the rate of fatal crashes per licensed driver – aged 70 and older – declined from 1997 to 2008. All this is according to a recent study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Additionally, the rates of less severe crashes reported to police officers went down. These declines were not anticipated.

Nine years ago Institute researchers, noting the growing proportion of the US population represented by people 65 and older, expressed concern about the risk. Older people’s high crash rates, combined with their increase in driving, indicated that a problem might be emerging. But it hasn’t emerged… at least not yet.

About 28 million people in the United States were 70 and older in 2008. Of those, 78 percent had driver’s licenses, up from 73 percent in 1997. At the same time, fatal passenger vehicle crashes per licensed driver in this age group fell about 37 percent. The most dramatic decline was among drivers 80 and older, whose fatal crash rate went down by almost half. In contrast, the rate among drivers 35-54 years old dropped 23 percent.

“If the crash trends of drivers 70 and older had mirrored the experience of middle-age drivers, we estimate that about 10,000 additional older drivers would have been in fatal crashes during 1997-2008,” said Anne Mc-Cartt, Institute senior vice president for research and an author of the new report.

“With or without state action, it looks like older people are doing a good job of addressing their own driving abilities. This may be a reason we’re not seeing the increases in older driver crashes and crash deaths that were anticipated a few years ago.”

Yet another reason may be an improvement in older people’s health and physical conditioning. This could reduce their risk of crashing and help them fare better when they do crash. Older people may be benefiting more than younger motorists from vehicle crashworthiness improvements. They may be surviving crashes more often because of enhanced emergency medical services and trauma care.

So, is there life beyond seventy? If you hang on to your Mustang, it is virtually guaranteed.