Older driver’s knowledge of vehicle safety and their vehicles

摘要

Vehicle safety provides a significant capacity to offer safety benefits for older people inrnthe event of a crash. As people age, their level of frailty increases, resulting in thernincreased susceptibility to serious injury or death in the event of a crash.rnThis paper will explore the relative knowledge and awareness of vehicle safety by olderrnpeople in Victoria, Australia. From this, the issue of vehicle purchase decisions/intentrnwill be explored, and the age/type of vehicle they currently drive.rnThe road safety implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations arernmade about how older people can be better informed about the importance of vehiclernsafety. Older drivers and drivers more generally, need to be informed, and perhapsrnpersuaded, about the benefits of vehicle safety features in providing protection in thernevent of a crash. The literature suggests that encouraging older people to drive saferrnvehicles has the potential to reduce their injury severity/fatality risk, and that of theirrnpassengers, in the event of a crash.