TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS OF ELDERLY CAR DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS

At the Institute for Legal Medicine in Hamburg, 54 car and bus acciden ts involving elderly people (age greater than or equal to 65 years) ov er the last decade have been studied. Differences in sex and age, the reasons for accident and death, and specific problems of clinical ther apy are analyzed. Mostly men had been the drivers, half of them being personally responsible for the accident. Special psychophysical factor s associated with old age could not be identified as causative factors for the accidents within this series.