Steer clear of the youngins on the road and get behind the old guy
For drivers between the ages of 16 and 24, the price of insurance can seem more than a little unfair. While $125 per month could insure a luxury vehicle for someone in their 30s, a 16 year-old couldn't get such a rate for a Pinto. There's a very simple reason for this disparity; young motorists are by far the most dangerous drivers on the road. A study by the Rand Corporations shows that while 13-percent of all drivers are between the ages of 16 and 24, 43-percent of all accidents come from that age group. It's a good thing everybody seems to be on the phone while driving, it may not hurt as much when you don't see that pimped out Neon coming.
While young drivers are an accident waiting to happen, those over the age of 65 are much safer than their unearned reputation may suggest. Senior citizens make up 15-percent of all drivers, but only cause 7-percent of the total accidents. Maybe it's because people are a little more careful when they see a Crown Victoria on the road, but that AARP discount appears to be well-deserved anyway. Next time you're on the freeway and you see a Buick Roadmaster in the right lane, get behind it, it's probably one of the safest places on the road.
[Source: Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
GMan 11:40AM (7/23/2007)
It is because they are on the roads at 2 pm to do grocery shopping and hit the early bird special. My grandma gets in the car as many times in a week as i do in a day.
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Don 1:37PM (7/23/2007)
I'm not sure why this is such a problem...my father simply put me on his policy when I was a whipper-snapper. Saved me oodles of cash.
Eric 11:42AM (7/23/2007)
I think it's more than likely because they don't crack 20, usually don't spend as much time on the roads, and when they do, it's usually not on the highway.
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Nick 11:48AM (7/23/2007)
I think there is a typo in your article -
You said "Next time you're on the freeway and you see a Buick Roadmaster in the right lane"
But i think you mean -
"Next time you're on the freeway and you see a Buick Roadmaster going 10MPH under the speed limit in the left lane"
Seriously, think about the statistics - 15% of the drivers and cause 7% of the accidents. How often does Grandpa go out, anyway? I don't know all the statistics, but if they drive 1/2 as much as another age group, then their "safety" is gone. I agree with GMan, this statistic is crap.
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Edsel 11:49AM (7/23/2007)
In the Socialist Republic of Massachusetts, where government sets auto insurance premiums, $125.00/month buys a policy for a thirty year old rust-bucket. And, that price is for a person with a squeaky clean 30 year driving record.
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Dave 1:30PM (7/23/2007)
Wow.
I live in (more densely populated) Rhode Island and I pay slightly less than $600 per year.
I'm 35 and I have 2 tickets in the last 3 years.
felipe 11:51AM (7/23/2007)
the younger the driver, the worse the driver.
my son and daughter flipped the Barbie car just this weekend..did the "reverse to fast forward" move going up a hill and rolled it backwards... never seen a old gent on 'Rascal' do that now have ya?
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Paul 11:52AM (7/23/2007)
take alcohol out of the formula and see where things line up...
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Ben H. 12:06PM (7/23/2007)
I'd like to know how many times a younger driver is trying to avoid the slower Q-tip driver and then causes an accident to get around the less safe, slower driver? Q-tips may not cause accidents directly, but they can cause them indirectly and are as much a factor to accidents.
And staying behind them doesn't mean it's safer.
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Dan 12:23PM (7/23/2007)
explain these stats to the people who ended up in a hospital in wilmette, IL last week after a 94 year old woman crashed into a sandwich shop. some quick-acting customers saved lives while the woman continued hitting the gas after trapping a woman against a counter.
not surprisingly, the same old woman had hit another building 6 weeks earlier.
the ironic thing about it all is that illinois just passed stricter driving laws for teens...
dave 12:34PM (7/23/2007)
@ Dan:
If you want to get anecdotal about it, two 20-somethings were killed on the Edens Expy--on a stretch not far from Wilmette, I think--because their friend, the driver, was wasted. And two parents, also here in the Chicago area, were just found guilty (of negligent homicide, or something to that effect) because two teens died after driving, drunk, home from a party the parents had allegedly sanctioned.
Young folks, 1, Old folks, 2. Anecdotes don't affect statistics.
paul34 12:33PM (7/23/2007)
Absolutely... I was on an exchange ramp on the highway one night. This is a long, sweeping ramp that isn't near any towns or bulidings, just woods - so no street lights either.
It is a wide turn, but as there are trees on each side, your visibility as far as what's around the bend is limited. Normally, this is fine, as you can imagine, since it is just a two-lane exchange ramp.
However... here I'm coming off the highway, engine braking. I must be doing about 50 MPH at this point (recommend speed limit for the ramp was 40, but it was banked, and people were already passing me on the left anyway).
Well - I keep going around the bend, starting to speed up a bit as I sense I'm approaching the end (and thus the merge to the other highway) - and WHOA!
Old lady in her Town Car right in front me... DOING 25 MPH!
I had to really get on the brakes because there was someone in the left lane at the time. Holy crap! Whoever says going slow isn't dangerous is naive and ignorant!
Or how about the time I made a left turn after I got my light, only to barely avoid getting T-Boned by an old lady who ran her red in her Town Car? Oh - and did I mention she kept looking straight ahead? She had NO idea what she had just done!
paul34 12:34PM (7/23/2007)
Absolutely... I was on an exchange ramp on the highway one night. This is a long, sweeping ramp that isn't near any towns or bulidings, just woods - so no street lights either.
It is a wide turn, but as there are trees on each side, your visibility as far as what's around the bend is limited. Normally, this is fine, as you can imagine, since it is just a two-lane exchange ramp.
However... here I'm coming off the highway, engine braking. I must be doing about 50 MPH at this point (recommend speed limit for the ramp was 40, but it was banked, and people were already passing me on the left anyway).
Well - I keep going around the bend, starting to speed up a bit as I sense I'm approaching the end (and thus the merge to the other highway) - and WHOA!
Old lady in her Town Car right in front me... DOING 25 MPH!
I had to really get on the brakes because there was someone in the left lane at the time. Holy crap! Whoever says going slow isn't dangerous is naive and ignorant!
Or how about the time I made a left turn after I got my light, only to barely avoid getting T-Boned by an old lady who ran her red in her Town Car? Oh - and did I mention she kept looking straight ahead? She had NO idea what she had just done!
Kwyjibo 12:32PM (7/23/2007)
The reason older drivers seem safer is because they don't know what it going on. I would bet that there are a lot of accidents caused by old people who are either driving too slow, or pull out into traffic without looking, then drive off, without the foggiest clue that they just caused another driver to wreck their car.....or, even worse, causing some guy on a motorcycle to go down.
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bob 12:40PM (7/23/2007)
insurance costs are unreasonably high due to fascist government mandates. practice vehicular non-violent resistance by refusing to buy car insurance. if enough people cancel their policies, they can't prosecute everyone.
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Calebe 12:40PM (7/23/2007)
Odd, in Europe Younger drivers are safer in their studies. What is the difference between American youth and European youth? talking to my grandmother, she will tell you she has never had a crash. The thing is she is clueless to the crashes she has caused. Turning left from the right hand lane, not looking when she pulls out, stopping in the road looking for an address. It's hard to do to much damage at 25mph anyway. Driving 3000 miles a year at most means not being in traffic much either.
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Mattias 12:49PM (7/23/2007)
Here in Germany we have a sick system that is based on the region where a car is insured and something we call "type classes". In fully comprehensive coverage "type classes" make some sense, because they reflect the cost to repair some typical accidents. For motor vehicle third party liability insurance the type class just represents how many hoons have the same car you have. If many hoons wreck the same type of car, your insurance is higher. Even worse is the system of regional classes: When moving to an area with lots of hoons it is assumed that you are going hoon, too. So you have to pay higher insurance rates than before.
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kevjohn 12:54PM (7/23/2007)
My 70-something year old grandmother drive for several decades and never got into any sort of traffic accident. Until the 20-something college student who was too busy talking on her cell phone to remember that she was actually supposed to STOP at a stop sign t-boned her in her daddy-bought car. Just another bit of anecdotal evidence, one of many.
Calebe, I think the difference is that you actually receive adequate driver training there; we don't. Younger drivers are safer there because they receive good training and still have all the positive attributes of Youth: quick reflexes, good sight and hearing. Those attributes decline with age. Here, we receive poor training so our drivers start out bad and typically get much better with experience.
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GatorLCA 7:58PM (7/23/2007)
Don't think that all 20-somethings are terrible drivers. Why is it that I'm 23 and my Insurance is only $85 a month and I drive a Crossfire?? Maybe it's because I'm responsible. I see more irresponsible adult drivers than I do teenagers
Ken 12:56PM (7/23/2007)
Or a Toyota or a Lexus, average Toyota drivers are about 55 and older, and average Lexus drivers are 65 and older. Don't believe me? Just look next time when you pass a Toyota or a Lexus.
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