Making the right choice: vehicle safety advice for seniors

Older drivers are particularly susceptible to serious injury or death in the event of a crash due to their increased level of frailty. For this reason, it is particularly important that older drivers consider safety features and options when choosing a car. The large number of safety features currently available in vehicles can help keep older people safer in the event of a crash.

RACV commissioned Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) to undertake research that looked at older drivers knowledge and awareness of vehicle safety features. The results found that older drivers would tend to select cars with features that provided comfort and ease of driving rather than specific safety features. Older drivers also had significant misconceptions about some vehicle safety features.

These research findings prompted RACV in conjunction with MUARC to develop a booklet called Making the right choice: vehicle safety advice for seniors to raise awareness of vehicle safety features and to assist older people in their vehicle selection.