Seniors at the wheel are involved in more and more car accidents

After evaluating insurers, more and more older people at the wheel are involved in serious accidents on streets in Germany. In 2023, 21,500 drivers aged 75 and older in traffic accidents with dead and injuries were involved. This was an increase of 26 percent compared to 2013, the overall association of the German insurance industry said. The reasons for this are diverse.

The association’s accident research spoke of a development against the general trend: from 2013 to 2023, the number of drivers involved had decreased by twelve percent to around 303,800. Last year, according to the Federal Statistical Office, 2,780 traffic fatalities had given the third -lowest value since the beginning of the recording in 1953. Driving has always become safer since then.

Statistically speaking, older people are rarely involved in traffic accidents with personal damage. In terms of numbers, the group of professionals sits much more often by the wheel of vehicles. But: “Older people are traveling more and more on Germany,” said the head of accident research, Kirstin Zeidler, according to the association.

For example, this can be seen in the number of older people with a driver’s license. “In 2015 there were almost 2.5 million driver’s license owners in the 75plus generation, with almost 5.9 million more than twice as many in 2024,” explained Zeidler. The group of women in the period with a driver’s license – from 700,000 to 1.9 million.

Those who live in the country are sometimes dependent on their own car because the bus drives too rarely. Being mobile has also become more natural. At the same time, the German population is getting older.

Accordingly, the risk that older people are involved in accidents. According to the evaluation of the insurers, in 2023, three out of four participants aged 75 and over caused the accident (77 percent). In 16,468 cases, they were the main cause, an increase of 28 percent compared to 2013.

The Federal Statistical Office recently evaluated data for 2023 on this topic. According to this, drivers of cars in senior citizens, for example, were accused proportionately than the under 65 -year -olds that they have disregarded the right of way of other vehicles.

According to insurers, the risk of accidents increases significantly from the age of 75 because attention, concentration and reaction speed gradually decrease. This shows in complex situations at intersections with many pedestrians, cars and cyclists or on unusual routes.

Again and again it is discussed whether people from a certain age should be examined whether they are still traveling. Most recently, the EU Parliament had spoken out against mandatory medical health checks. The suggestion that people over the age of 70 should be renewed every five years does not come for the time being.

So it remains with voluntariness. For example, driving schools offer refresher courses. The so -called feedback trips are also advertised, in which seniors are accompanied by a specialist on a trip, which then gives feedback on driving style.

“After a 45-minute drive in their own car, travelers receive confidential feedback from experts and can adapt their driving, such as avoid unknown routes or peak times,” the accident researcher Zeidler also advertised for it. It is crucial that the result has no consequences for the driver’s license. That increases acceptance.