{"id":51318,"date":"2023-12-17T04:49:10","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T04:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myroadnews.com\/?p=51318"},"modified":"2023-12-17T04:49:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T04:49:10","slug":"drivers-over-70-disproportionately-affected-by-road-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myroadnews.com\/car-reviews\/drivers-over-70-disproportionately-affected-by-road-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"Drivers over 70 \u2018disproportionately\u2019 affected by road deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Older drivers above the age of 70 are at a higher risk with motorists in this age range \u201cdisproportionately\u201d killed in road accidents.<\/p>\n

Sergeant Rob Heard, an officer at Hampshire Constabulary and founder of the Older Drivers Forum said the elderly were \u201cmore likely\u201d to suffer serious injury or deaths on UK roads.<\/p>\n

Mr Heard warned this was likely down to two vital reasons which could be addressed by older road users and their families before disaster strikes.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Express.co.uk, he said: \u201cCurrently we have just around 5.9 million people aged 70 and above driving on our roads and that’s increasing by a quarter of a million every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an ageing population and older drivers where people 70 and above account for 15 percent of all our licences held, 11 percent of all the miles driven but disproportionately 28 percent of all fatalities.<\/p>\n

READ MORE <\/strong> Older drivers set to ditch owning cars in major 2024 UK road change<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cThat sometimes is because they continue beyond their abilities but sometimes because of frailty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we age, if we are involved in a collision we are much more likely to have a serious injury or even a fatality as a result of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a BBC Freedom of Information report found the number of people contacting the DVLA worried about a driver’s ability has dramatically increased.<\/p>\n

A staggering 48, 754 notifications were reported to the licensing group last year.<\/p>\n

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This was a staggering 82 percent increase on the 26,716 reports issued back in 2021.<\/p>\n

In a massive blow, the DVLA received a massive 11,548 reports in just the first three months of 2023.<\/p>\n

According to Sergeant Heard, it\u2019s not just the risk of being killed which can change the life of an elderly driver.<\/p>\n

Many have their lives turned upside down because of prosecutions caused by simple mistakes when behind the wheel.<\/p>\n