Young Drivers vs. Seniors: Who is More Likely to Get in a Crash?

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By: Taranjit | Last Updated: April 27, 2020

Younger drivers are more likely to be involved in a crash then older, more experienced drivers because they are new to driving. Did you know that, according to IIHS, young drivers, especially those between the ages of 16-19, are 3x more likely to be involved in a crash than those over the age of 20? You may attribute it to the fact that young drivers are inexperienced and still learning the ropes of the road.

Men under the age of 25 have been thought to get in more accidents because male teen drivers are more likely to engage in riskier and more aggressive behavior while behind the wheel. It’s just in their DNA and their physiology. Males don’t fully develop until their mid-20s, so it only makes sense that they have not fully developed the maturity to logically assess the dangers and risks of their behavior. Hence, why male teens have higher insurance rates.

Who is the better driver?

But when it comes to comparing young novice drivers to senior ones, the question is which group is the better driver?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, young drivers are known to cause way more accidents than senior drivers. Novice drivers were found responsible for 12.2% of accidents, whereas, seniors were found responsible for 7.7%.

Young drivers are more likely to cause an accident than senior drivers, and this may just come down to experience and amount of miles or hours spent on the road. Most often than none, seniors have been driving for a while, and often times, senior drivers are the ones that are found to be driving extremely slow; whereas, the younger drivers are more likely to speed and engage in more reckless driving behavior, increasing their chances of getting in more severe accidents.

Okay. So, seniors drivers cause less accidents than young drivers, but who drives more miles between male and female?

You guessed it. Men.

Men drive about 40% more miles per year than women.

I wonder if this statistic is why insurance for males over the age of 20 is lower than for females of the same age. Is it because men tend to drive more so insurance companies feel that they have more experience, and so they award that with lower premiums?

But then what about the fact that that men are more likely to be involved in more serious crashes than females? In fact, males have been found to have more traffic violations and DUIs than females, yet insurance premiums for females (over age 20) is higher than males. What is the logic behind that?

Final thoughts

When you are driving behind a new driver or a senior one, many often try to get around them because they typically are driving too slow for us, but, once that student driver gets their license, it’s as if they are like freedom! And test their limits behind the wheel by engaging in more risky behavior behind the wheel. Hence, why young drivers have been found to cause more accidents than females.