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United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Older Driver Safety

Older drivers face unique safety concerns including vision, reflexes, and physical fitness. We have material to help guide the discussion with older drivers, and children and caregivers of aging adults.

Many assets are available in English and Spanish. Share this information with partner organizations to help spread the message across communities.

A reminder, Older Driver Safety Awareness Week is December 7-11, 2026 – a good opportunity to increase messaging. 

Facts

Older population facts, stats and reports from NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis

 Get More Facts & Reports
  • In 2024, over 8,000 adults 65+ were killed in traffic crashes—making up 20% of all traffic fatalities in the U.S.
  • While traffic fatalities among older (65+) adults rose 29% over the last 10 years, the number of older licensed drivers increased 36%.
  • Traffic fatalities for those 65+ rose by 1% from 2023 to 2024.
  • Older adults 65+ now make up 18% of the U.S. population, totaling over 61 million people in 2024.
  • In 2024, older (65+) female drivers accounted for 26% of all female driver deaths, compared to just 18% for men.
  • Older (65+) drivers accounted for 23% of all licensed drivers in 2024, a significant jump from 18% in 2015.
  • In 2024 most traffic fatalities in crashes involving older (65+) drivers occurred during the daytime (71%), on weekdays (69%), and involved more than one vehicle (66%). These percentages are higher compared to all fatalities (46% were during the daytime, 59% were on weekdays, and 46% were in multivehicle crashes).
  • In 2024, 70% of older (65+) passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes were wearing seatbelts, compared to just 46% of those under 65.
  • Non-intersection deaths account for 67% of older (65+) adult pedestrian fatalities—notably lower than the 84% seen in those under 65.
  • For facts translated in Spanish, visit NHTSA.gov/Espanol. 

Older Driver Safety Awareness Week

Older Driver Safety Awareness Week is December 7-11, 2026, and you'll see increased communication related to older drivers. You can use any of the material available on this page to increase your older driver messaging.

If using earned media material, you can customize the news release and newsletter to reference Older Driver Safety Awareness Week.

Talking Points

We've prepared talking points related to older drivers. After downloading, we encourage you to add local stats and facts to the document. Some talking points are for an older driver audience and others are for families and caregivers.

Earned Media

We've produced a sample news release and drafted documents that can be used as a newsletter, article, column or part of other content.

  • Coming Soon: Spanish

Videos

Keeping Independent For practitioners, professionals
Overcome Concerns, Occupational Therapy

NHTSA Image Library

Images often help boost content engagement, especially on social media posts. We offer a variety of traffic safety images for free.

For Medical Professionals

Driving-Related Fact Sheet For Medical Professionals

Additional Resources