H.R. 3355

Older Driver and Pedestrian Safety and Roadway Enhancement Act of 2009

National Need

The percentage of persons aged 65 and older who are licensed drivers has increased from 61% in 1980 to 72% in 1990 and 80% in 2003 according to the AARP Public Policy Institute. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety projects that by 2025, one in every four drivers will be 65 or older.

Currently, 90% of older Americans’ trips are made by automobile, either as a driver or passenger. As a group, older drivers tend to be relatively safe drivers. According to a 2007 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, “older drivers’ fatal crash rate per licensed driver is lower than corresponding rates for drivers in younger age groups.” However, older drivers are at a higher risk of being seriously injured or killed when they are involved in a crash due to increasing fragility. Persons aged 65-74 have a fatality rate of 3.2 per 1,000 crashes compared to an overall fatality rate of 2.0. The rate climbs to 5.3 for those aged 75-84, and 8.6 for those over 85.

The majority of older adults live in the suburbs where public transportation is often very limited. For these individuals, a private vehicle is necessary to maintain their independence and connection to their community. And design changes and traffic control devices that help older drivers and pedestrians negotiate dangerous roadways and intersection can make driving easier and reduce accidents and fatalities for drivers and pedestrians of all ages.

Problem

Extensive research by the federal government, the Transportation Research Board, and other academic and private organizations concludes that as people grow older changes to their physical health may make driving more of a challenge. These changes include the loss of visual acuity, decreased physical flexibility (e.g. the ability to turn one’s head to look over the shoulder for lane changes), decreased cognitive abilities (e.g. more difficulty sorting through roadway information encountered while driving), and slower reaction times.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, forty percent of the fatal collisions of people 70 and older, compared with 23 percent ofthe crashes of 35-54 year-olds, occur at intersections and involve other vehicles. When compared with their younger counterparts, the vehicle driven by the older driver is nearly twice as likely to be struck in a traffic crash (61 percent to 32 percent, respectively), and in 25 percent of these crashes, the older driver was turning left, a rate that is five times higher than for younger drivers.

The Federal Highway Administration has developed and published a series of recommendations for roadway improvements designed to accommodate the needs of older drivers. In theHighway Design Handbook for Drivers and Pedestrians (FHWA-RD-01-103), the FHWA recommends specific safety improvements at intersections, interchanges, curves and roadway work zones the will make roadway features and hazards more visible, particularly at night. These recommendations would also provide all drivers with more advance notice and clearer information guiding them through hazardous locations and conditions so that they can arrive at their destinations safely. There is no engineering “down side” to these improvements.

Older Driver and Pedestrian Safety and Roadway Enhancement Act of 2009

The Older Driver and Pedestrian Safety and Roadway Enhancement Act builds upon a need to enhance roadway safety that Congress identified and endorsed in the 2005 SAFETEA-LU legislation. Supported by both the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) and AARP, the bill includes provisions that —

  • Establish a funding program to enable State Departments of Transportation to carry out programs to implement the roadway design and traffic control device recommendations of the Older Driver Handbook to address hazardous conditions at intersections and roadways determined to be the most dangerous for older drivers and pedestrians.
  • Allocate funding to States to use towards making needed roadway improvements through an apportionment based on that state’s vehicles miles traveled, population of persons 65 years and older, and the number of fatalities and serious injuries of drivers and pedestrians who 65 years and older.
  • Request $500 million annually, to come from the Highway Trust Fund,for distribution to states to fund local roadway safety projects.
  • Enhance data collection requirements relating to accidents, injuries and fatalities for drivers, passengers and pedestrians age 65 and older for purposes of allocating funding among states and identifying hazardous roadway locations.
  • Direct the Secretary of Transportation to update and reissue the Older Drivers Handbook and issue guidance memos suggesting additional design elements for inclusion in the Handbook to make roadways safer for older drivers and pedestrians.
  • Direct the Secretary to revise the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to include a standard for minimum level of retroreflectivity for pavement markings which will enable older drivers to more clearly see the lines on the roadunder all weather conditions.
  • Direct the Secretary to appoint a Special Assistant for Older Driver and Pedestrian Safety within the Office of the Secretary to oversee and coordinate all transportation safety, research and assistance programs relating to persons age 65 and older.