Older people

Overview

People ages 70 and older are less likely to be licensed to drive compared with younger people, and drivers 70 and older also drive fewer miles. However, older drivers are keeping their licenses longer and driving more miles than in the past.

Per mile traveled, fatal crash rates increase noticeably starting at age 70-74 and are highest among drivers 85 and older. The increased fatal crash risk among older drivers is largely due to their increased susceptibility to injuries, particularly to the chest, and medical complications, rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes (Cicchino, 2015).

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Posted July 2025.

Trends

A total of 5,502 people ages 70 and older died in motor vehicle crashes in 2023. This is a 46% increase since 1975. Though deaths are increasing, the rate of fatalities per capita among older people has decreased 47% since 1975.

Motor vehicle crash deaths and deaths per 100,000 people 70 and older, 1975-2023

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people 70 years and older, 1975-2023
Year	Population	Deaths	Rate
1975	14,563,945	3,775	25.9
1976	14,960,120	3,896	26.0
1977	15,401,249	3,859	25.1
1978	15,876,541	3,824	24.1
1979	16,388,617	3,772	23.0
1980	16,897,977	3,861	22.8
1981	17,322,714	3,871	22.3
1982	17,783,888	3,655	20.6
1983	18,233,751	3,734	20.5
1984	18,662,938	4,052	21.7
1985	19,072,785	4,206	22.1
1986	19,463,480	4,445	22.8
1987	19,890,817	4,555	22.9
1988	20,302,280	4,925	24.3
1989	20,719,397	4,943	23.9
1990	21,164,283	4,844	22.9
1991	21,751,897	4,843	22.3
1992	22,321,217	4,901	22.0
1993	22,800,673	5,221	22.9
1994	23,243,845	5,425	23.3
1995	23,693,757	5,509	23.3
1996	24,056,323	5,578	23.2
1997	24,408,817	5,872	24.1
1998	24,793,551	5,798	23.4
1999	25,092,805	5,657	22.5
2000	25,559,879	5,379	21.0
2001	25,797,467	5,425	21.0
2002	26,005,326	5,332	20.5
2003	26,200,946	5,363	20.5
2004	26,337,518	5,106	19.4
2005	26,658,669	5,047	18.9
2006	26,884,798	4,636	17.2
2007	27,135,517	4,631	17.1
2008	27,521,034	4,291	15.6
2009	27,786,270	3,995	14.4
2010	27,957,657	4,171	14.9
2011	28,472,279	4,071	14.3
2012	29,152,093	4,113	14.1
2013	30,040,362	4,150	13.8
2014	30,864,009	4,206	13.6
2015	31,624,778	4,427	14.0
2016	32,406,486	4,848	15.0
2017	33,964,043	5,037	14.8
2018	35,290,306	5,026	14.2
2019	36,592,368	5,232	14.3
2020	37,785,698	4,593	12.2
2021	37,453,633	5,245	14.0
2022	39,163,430	5,658	14.4
2023	40,097,633	5,502	13.7

Seventy-one percent of people 70 and older killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2023 were passenger vehicle occupants, and 18% were pedestrians.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among people 70 and older, 1975-2023
Year	Passenger vehicle occupant deaths		Pedestrian deaths		Motorcyclist deaths		Other motor vehicle deaths		All motor vehicle deaths
Year	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number
1975	2,302	61	1,348	36	5	<1	120	3	3,775
1976	2,490	64	1,291	33	9	<1	106	3	3,896
1977	2,370	61	1,383	36	14	<1	92	2	3,859
1978	2,515	66	1,214	32	16	<1	79	2	3,824
1979	2,391	63	1,277	34	16	<1	88	2	3,772
1980	2,399	62	1,344	35	21	1	97	3	3,861
1981	2,495	64	1,278	33	22	1	76	2	3,871
1982	2,430	66	1,124	31	16	<1	85	2	3,655
1983	2,547	68	1,081	29	29	1	77	2	3,734
1984	2,764	68	1,164	29	32	1	92	2	4,052
1985	2,933	70	1,170	28	17	<1	86	2	4,206
1986	3,166	71	1,157	26	18	<1	104	2	4,445
1987	3,276	72	1,160	25	23	1	96	2	4,555
1988	3,540	72	1,271	26	29	1	85	2	4,925
1989	3,658	74	1,180	24	14	<1	91	2	4,943
1990	3,525	73	1,195	25	26	1	98	2	4,844
1991	3,690	76	1,044	22	22	<1	87	2	4,843
1992	3,801	78	997	20	18	<1	85	2	4,901
1993	4,076	78	1,012	19	30	1	103	2	5,221
1994	4,291	79	1,021	19	25	<1	88	2	5,425
1995	4,368	79	1,008	18	16	<1	117	2	5,509
1996	4,492	81	951	17	24	<1	111	2	5,578
1997	4,748	81	931	16	27	<1	166	3	5,872
1998	4,683	81	965	17	28	<1	122	2	5,798
1999	4,587	81	885	16	30	1	155	3	5,657
2000	4,406	82	807	15	42	1	124	2	5,379
2001	4,389	81	878	16	42	1	116	2	5,425
2002	4,287	80	845	16	50	1	150	3	5,332
2003	4,377	82	777	14	56	1	153	3	5,363
2004	4,113	81	763	15	48	1	182	4	5,106
2005	4,016	80	777	15	79	2	175	3	5,047
2006	3,681	79	707	15	76	2	172	4	4,636
2007	3,661	79	726	16	89	2	155	3	4,631
2008	3,401	79	603	14	127	3	160	4	4,291
2009	3,194	80	578	14	91	2	132	3	3,995
2010	3,246	78	628	15	137	3	160	4	4,171
2011	3,109	76	637	16	147	4	178	4	4,071
2012	3,081	75	707	17	150	4	175	4	4,113
2013	3,123	75	666	16	177	4	184	4	4,150
2014	3,136	75	729	17	139	3	202	5	4,206
2015	3,346	76	719	16	164	4	198	4	4,427
2016	3,586	74	822	17	207	4	233	5	4,848
2017	3,763	75	821	16	232	5	221	4	5,037
2018	3,665	73	911	18	212	4	238	5	5,026
2019	3,810	73	888	17	251	5	283	5	5,232
2020	3,251	71	777	17	267	6	298	6	4,593
2021	3,783	72	859	16	307	6	296	6	5,245
2022	4,013	71	1,009	18	312	6	324	6	5,658
2023	3,904	71	995	18	295	5	308	6	5,502

In 2023, 57% of the deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers 70 and older were the older drivers themselves, and 12% were their passengers. Thirty percent of deaths were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians. In contrast, in crashes involving at least one passenger vehicle driver younger than 30, 37% of the deaths were the drivers younger than 30, 18% were their passengers, and 46% were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians.

Deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers younger than 30, ages 30-69, and 70 and older, by type of road user, 2023
	Deaths involving at least one driver younger than 30		Deaths involving at least one driver age 30-69		Deaths involving at least one driver 70 or older
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Deaths in passenger vehicles with a driver that age
Drivers	5,030	37	10,294	45	2,974	57
Passengers	2,412	18	2,776	12	640	12
Deaths of other passenger vehicle occupants	3,037	22	3,440	15	598	12
Motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians	3,295	24	6,592	29	968	19
Total*	13,877	100	23,276	100	5,198	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Population and mileage rates

By age group, 2023 motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people begin increasing for males at ages 75-79 and females at age 70-74. For ages 16 and older, death rates were substantially higher for males than for females.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2023

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2023
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<16	32,722,522	777	2.4	31,248,351	481	1.5	63,970,873	1,261	2.0
16-19	9,006,150	1,824	20.3	8,596,938	742	8.6	17,603,088	2,568	14.6
20-24	11,126,811	3,108	27.9	10,684,361	1,019	9.5	21,811,172	4,133	18.9
25-29	11,175,898	2,871	25.7	10,842,462	921	8.5	22,018,360	3,799	17.3
30-34	11,883,289	2,777	23.4	11,640,867	1,003	8.6	23,524,156	3,784	16.1
35-39	11,364,080	2,454	21.6	11,142,564	822	7.4	22,506,644	3,281	14.6
40-44	10,998,156	2,303	20.9	10,885,893	826	7.6	21,884,049	3,135	14.3
45-49	9,886,355	1,989	20.1	9,930,655	634	6.4	19,817,010	2,626	13.3
50-54	10,300,754	1,973	19.2	10,376,017	644	6.2	20,676,771	2,621	12.7
55-59	10,166,391	2,121	20.9	10,439,866	686	6.6	20,606,257	2,808	13.6
60-64	10,337,454	2,103	20.3	10,910,700	726	6.7	21,248,154	2,833	13.3
65-69	9,125,260	1,715	18.8	10,025,468	669	6.7	19,150,728	2,389	12.5
70-74	7,209,820	1,239	17.2	8,324,736	638	7.7	15,534,556	1,879	12.1
75-79	5,166,023	972	18.8	6,221,394	516	8.3	11,387,417	1,489	13.1
80-84	2,996,476	685	22.9	3,984,204	467	11.7	6,980,680	1,152	16.5
≥85	2,283,961	576	25.2	3,911,019	405	10.4	6,194,980	982	15.9
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Based on miles traveled data from the National Household Travel Survey, the rate of passenger vehicle driver fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled in 2016-17 begins to increase at ages 70-74. Drivers 85 and older had the highest rate of fatal crash involvement during that period.

Passenger vehicle fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled by driver age, April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017

Passenger vehicle fatal crash rates per 100 million miles traveled, by driver age, April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017
Age	Crash involvements	Miles	Rate
16-19	3,023	62,410,423,548	4.8
20-24	5,615	172,158,820,127	3.3
25-29	4,963	213,487,256,997	2.3
30-34	4,052	228,055,122,817	1.8
35-39	3,290	235,513,924,779	1.4
40-44	2,933	221,981,057,921	1.3
45-49	2,868	211,720,351,245	1.4
50-54	2,954	229,997,362,385	1.3
55-59	2,791	216,227,224,007	1.3
60-64	2,397	195,073,278,082	1.2
65-69	2,003	149,557,419,942	1.3
70-74	1,468	87,458,953,733	1.7
75-79	1,094	51,982,073,748	2.1
80-84	882	20,669,598,896	4.3
≥85	858	11,313,581,400	7.6
Total*	41,234	2,307,606,449,627	1.8
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crash types

Among passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2023, the proportion in multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections increases steadily with age starting at 70-74. Multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections accounted for 39% of fatal crash involvements among drivers 80 and older, compared with about 20-23% for drivers ages 20-64.

Passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes by age and crash type, 2023
Age	Multiple-vehicle intersection crashes		Other multiple-vehicle crashes		Single-vehicle intersection crashes		Other single-vehicle crashes		All crashes*
Age	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
16-19	772	24	1,111	34	172	5	1,225	37	3,280	100
20-24	1,055	20	2,271	42	270	5	1,761	33	5,357	100
25-29	974	20	2,017	42	249	5	1,555	32	4,795	100
30-34	947	20	2,126	45	237	5	1,423	30	4,733	100
35-39	808	20	1,724	43	217	5	1,238	31	3,987	100
40-44	762	21	1,649	45	166	5	1,052	29	3,629	100
45-49	662	22	1,372	45	168	6	831	27	3,033	100
50-54	646	22	1,289	44	159	5	810	28	2,904	100
55-59	613	22	1,164	42	154	6	823	30	2,754	100
60-64	630	23	1,120	41	134	5	817	30	2,701	100
65-69	540	24	1,005	45	118	5	594	26	2,257	100
70-74	480	27	721	41	78	4	489	28	1,768	100
75-79	449	31	568	40	62	4	349	24	1,428	100
80-84	373	37	366	36	54	5	225	22	1,018	100
≥85	317	41	258	33	40	5	157	20	772	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Pedestrians

Pedestrian death rates per capita were lower for those ages 70 and older than for those ages 30-69.

Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2023
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<13	26,065,242	86	0.3	24,905,952	50	0.2	50,971,194	136	0.3
13-15	6,657,280	44	0.7	6,342,399	18	0.3	12,999,679	62	0.5
16-19	9,006,150	116	1.3	8,596,938	63	0.7	17,603,088	179	1.0
20-24	11,126,811	295	2.7	10,684,361	113	1.1	21,811,172	409	1.9
25-29	11,175,898	369	3.3	10,842,462	151	1.4	22,018,360	523	2.4
30-34	11,883,289	465	3.9	11,640,867	209	1.8	23,524,156	676	2.9
35-39	11,364,080	483	4.3	11,142,564	168	1.5	22,506,644	654	2.9
40-44	10,998,156	462	4.2	10,885,893	211	1.9	21,884,049	674	3.1
45-49	9,886,355	407	4.1	9,930,655	145	1.5	19,817,010	554	2.8
50-54	10,300,754	397	3.9	10,376,017	149	1.4	20,676,771	550	2.7
55-59	10,166,391	450	4.4	10,439,866	195	1.9	20,606,257	646	3.1
60-64	10,337,454	463	4.5	10,910,700	162	1.5	21,248,154	627	3.0
65-69	9,125,260	395	4.3	10,025,468	141	1.4	19,150,728	538	2.8
70-74	7,209,820	273	3.8	8,324,736	131	1.6	15,534,556	404	2.6
75-79	5,166,023	194	3.8	6,221,394	79	1.3	11,387,417	274	2.4
80-84	2,996,476	110	3.7	3,984,204	74	1.9	6,980,680	184	2.6
≥85	2,283,961	85	3.7	3,911,019	48	1.2	6,194,980	133	2.1
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Alcohol

Ten percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers 70 years and older in 2023 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.08%, compared with 21% for drivers ages 60-69 and 37% for drivers ages 16-59.

Fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08% by age, 2023
Age	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08
Age	Number	Number	%
16-59 years	13,001	4,825	37
60-69 years	2,279	487	21
≥70 years	2,974	296	10