Although they only account for about 9 percent of the population, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics show senior drivers account for 14 percent of all traffic fatalities and 17 percent of all pedestrian fatalities.
A recent report by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found the rate of deaths involving drivers ages 75 to 84 is about three per million miles driven – about the same as teen drivers; however, once they pass age 85, vehicular fatality rates jump to nearly four times that of teens.
A 70-year-old Georgia man allegedly driving drunk Wednesday night caused at least 15 wrecks, killing one person and critically injuring another, according to local police.
After causing five wrecks in DeKalb County, the man then allegedly caused at least 10 more wrecks in Gwinnett County before causing a fatal wreck near Snellville, GA.
The man’s Ford F-250 truck rear-ended a car, pushing the car under a flatbed truck. A female passenger in the car, believed to be in her 60s, died at the scene of the wreck. The car’s driver was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
The driver then proceeded to run into John Boy’s Home Cooking restaurant, causing some damage to the building. No one inside the restaurant was injured.
Gwinnett County jail records indicate Michael Owen Snider, 70, of Stone Mountain, GA was booked just after midnight and charged with vehicular homicide, DUI, causing serious injury by vehicle, reckless driving and following too closely, jail records show. He was being held without bond early Thursday.
Additional charges are expected to be filed in DeKalb County, where several cars were hit on Memorial Drive.
How old is too old to drive?
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