Accident Severity and Young and Old Drivers: Evidence from Saskatchewan 1991-2012

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of several driving factors on the severity of accidents in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada. The data provided by the Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) contains detailed accident information related to driving behaviours, risky factors, vehicle and environmental features and allows me to analyse their impact on the injury severity of accidents. I find that different driving behaviours when comparing the performance of young and old drivers and the whole population. I find the young and old drivers are more dangerous compared to middle-age drivers, but the youngest female drivers are more vulnerable to suffering severe accidents, while the oldest female drivers are not. In addition, marginal effect analysis illustrates that the possibilities of experiencing more severe accidents increases with drivers’ age, and decreases with the number of occupants in a vehicle for both young and old drivers. These results also suggest some potential policy uses.