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Comment by korzun | Hacker News Reader

Want faster and safer traffic merging?

> Part of DMV road test should cover highway and emergency (road block) situations. > Utilize responsive testing (how fast person reacts to something). Could be an in-house application. > Older drivers should have extra testing once they hit certain age. > Re-test drivers every 10 years. > Driving and doing your make up? Reading a book/iPad? Eating chipotle? License suspension. Bye bye.

In general every situation where I had to steer out of the way was caused by an older person who should NOT be driving.

Zipper merging on New York roads? Fuhgeddaboudit.

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> In general every situation where I had to steer out of the way was caused by an older person who should NOT be driving.

Do you have any statistics about driving accidents? Because all the stats I've seen show that older drivers are safer better drivers than young people, and this is especially true when comparing to young males under the age of 26.

It's been awhile since I've looked into it, but I seem to remember it being more or less that the young, and very old are both less safe than the middle.

Those statistics do not include cases where older person switches lanes into your car and you luckily avoid it.

They also do not include cases where other people cause accidents and go on their marry way while you wreck your vehicle avoiding them.

Like the other poster stated, it's young (novice drivers) and old drivers.

It's also a scientific fact that you reaction time decreases as you grow older.

>Because all the stats I've seen show that older drivers are safer better drivers than young people.

Sure.

http://consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/10/teenagers-an...

http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/older_adult_drivers/ad...

> Age-related declines in vision and cognitive functioning (ability to reason and remember), as well as physical changes, may affect some older adults' driving abilities.5

> Per mile traveled, fatal crash rates increase starting at age 75 and increase notably after age 80. This is largely due to increased susceptibility to injury and medical complications among older drivers rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes

> This is largely due to increased susceptibility to injury and medical complications among older drivers rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes

So it's not that they are more likely to get into crashes, it's that they are more likely to die from the injuries that a crash causes while a younger person would survive if they received the same injuries.

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