Risky behaviors of older taxi drivers and suggested requirements for renewing their professional driver’s licenses

Abstract

This paper investigates how specific risk factors affect the severity of injuries in crashes involving male taxi drivers 60 years of age and older in Taiwan. The heteroscedastic logit model is used to identify these significant risk factors and variations that affect the severity of crashes. The marginal effects show that older taxi drivers with risky behaviors of driving while fatigued and driving while drunk significantly increase the probability of crashes with injuries by 16.7% and 7.9%, respectively. Driving at night from 8:00 pm to midnight and from midnight to 6:00 am also significantly increase the probability of crashes with injuries by 4.0% and 2.6%, respectively. Furthermore, significant variations are found in notwearing a seat belt in older taxi drivers involved in crashes causing injuries. To reduce the likelihood of such crashes, in addition to the mandatory physical examinations, a sleep apnea test, an alcohol assessment, and a cognitive impairment assessment are recommended for renewing a driver’s license for taxis drivers age 60 older.