Person–Vehicle–Environment Interactions Predicting Crash-Related Injury Among Older Drivers

Abstract

The object of this research was to identify interactions among person, vehicle, and environment factors associated with crashes and injuries among older drivers. We quantified risk factors and interactions for 5,744 drivers. Women had a high crash risk during mornings (8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.; odds ratio [OR] = 1.73, confidence interval [CI] = 1.40-2.14) or afternoons (2:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.; OR = 1.74, CI = 1.41-2.15); alcohol-related crashes were the least likely to occur during mornings (OR = 0.19, CI = 0.12-0.31). The greatest crash risk with another vehicle occurred during afternoons (OR = 3.89, CI = 2.41-5.05). Injury had interactions with fixed-object crashes (OR = 427, CI = 182.9-998.24), no seatbelt (OR = 5.69, CI = 3.90-8.29), female gender (OR = 1.54, CI = 1.67-1.92), and mornings (OR = 1.40, CI = 1.01-1.94). An opportunity for crash and injury prevention research and shaping longer-range evaluation policies emerged.