Older drivers in Hamburg: risk of accidents increases rapidly!

In Hamburg, there is a worrying increase in older drivers who are involved in serious traffic accidents. According to a report by satellite-range.de , the number of over 75 years is causing, alarming. In 2023, 76 percent of the drivers involved in accidents were the main cause. This corresponds to 310 cases, which represents an increase of 2 percent compared to 2013. The general number of those involved in the accident fell by 22 percent from 2013 to 2023 to around 7,260, but the group of over 75 year olds remains stable at 409.

The head of accident research by the insurers in the GDV, Kirstin Zeidler, reports that more and more seniors are traveling on Hamburg's roads. The routes, which are covered by Generation 75plus, increased by around 130 percent between 2008 and 2017. In 2023, around 7,500 over 75-year-olds nationwide were involved in traffic accidents with injuries or killed, which means an increase of around 26 percent since 2013.

statistics and causes of accidents

Accident research also shows that the causes of accidents are diverse in older drivers. For over 75-year-olds, the proportion of the main causes in 2023 was 76.7 percent, according to destatis.de . While younger adults between the ages of 18 and 25 occur as the main cause in 66.1 percent of cases, the proportion in the age group of 45-55-year-olds is lowest with 49.8 percent. Older road users less often take part in road traffic, which is, among other things, because they no longer have to go to work.

The consequences of accidents are often more serious for older people. In 2023, 14.4 percent of the accident, 21.6 percent of the seriously injured and 37.7 percent of the fatalities were at least 65 years old. Despite a lower participation in road traffic, the likelihood of dying from a traffic accident is higher in the more than 65-year-olds, which indicates their vulnerability in road traffic.