title: Older drivers, crashes and injuries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article aimed to identify the main features of older driver casualty crashes, including detailed descriptions of injury outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from the Transport Accident Commission insurance claims database for 2 groups of drivers: aged 41 to 55 years (middle-aged drivers) and aged 65 years and older (older drivers).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In terms of crash circumstances, the majority of crashes involved a collision with another vehicle (70.0% of middle-aged drivers and 68.7% of older drivers). The 2 main maneuvers at the time of crash were driving straight ahead (44.6% of middle-aged drivers and 42.8% of older drivers) and turning right (equivalent of left turn in North America; 15.2% of middle-aged drivers and 17.6% of older drivers). In terms of injury outcomes, older drivers sustained a significantly higher proportion of injuries to the thorax (30.9% compared to 18.5% of middle-aged drivers). Conversely, a significantly higher proportion of middle-aged drivers sustained some form of injury to the neck (30.6% compared to 12.1% of older drivers).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings highlight the situations that are particularly risky for older drivers and provide important insights for developing solutions to reduce older driver crash and injury risk.
authors.affiliation: Monash University Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. Sjaanie.Koppel@monash.edu
authors.forename: Sjaanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koppel
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bohensky
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Langford
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taranto
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality