Older vehicles can make crashes particularly serious for seniors

If you’ve got an older loved one who isn’t ready to stop driving yet, you likely worry about them being on the road. That’s a reasonable concern, even if they’re physically and mentally able to drive safely and know their limits – like maybe not driving after dark and avoiding freeways.

A valid concern is that seniors are more likely to suffer serious injuries than younger people simply because their bodies are becoming more fragile with age. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers who are 75 and older are up to four times more likely to suffer fatal injuries in crashes than middle-aged drivers.

Lack of safety features

One reason cited by the IIHS is that many of these older drivers have vehicles many decades old that don’t have much of the safety technology that is standard in newer models. Some younger drivers have never been in or driven a car without these features, so they assume everyone has them, which in itself can be dangerous.

Drivers in their mid-70s and older are more likely than younger ones to have vehicles without airbags, seat belt warning systems, rear-view cameras, blind spot monitoring, forward collision monitoring, automatic energy braking and more. While this technology isn’t a guarantee against crashes (and in fact can make drivers overly complacent), it can and does save lives.

Further, if a senior rarely drives and even more rarely takes their car in for a checkup, the battery can die unexpectedly, which can lead to a crash – particularly if they’re on an incline and can’t reach the parking brake in time (or don’t know where it is).

Less protection for those in the vehicle

Newer model cars (especially smaller ones) can be more likely to suffer serious damage in a crash than the large, older ones some of us remember our parents or grandparents driving. However, they’re also designed to better protect those inside the vehicle.

If your elderly loved one is injured in a crash, they may have catastrophic injuries. That’s why it’s crucial to help ensure that they aren’t blamed for something that wasn’t their fault simply because of their age – or that their car isn’t erroneously blamed. It’s also essential that they get the compensation they need to cover medical bills and other expenses (including perhaps a newer vehicle if they’re able to eventually get behind the wheel again). Having experienced legal guidance can make a big difference.