Even if the group of elderly persons over the age of 65 is involved in considerably fewer accidents with personal injury compared with younger age groups, the involvement of the elderly in accidents is expected to rise as a result of the increase in the number of individuals in this age group due to demographic change. This fact makes it necessary to maintain and improve the traffic safety of this age group in future. The SENIORLIFE study offers a wealth of findings to which reference may be made when developing traffic safety measures. In terms of content and method, the SENIORLIFE study is based on the BASt AEMEIS study The elderly in the future safety system of road/vehicle/man from 2002, which provided extensive descriptions of those lifestyle groups of senior citizens who are at risk to a lesser and greater extent. In contrast to the AEMEIS study, personal values were included in the SENIORLIFE questionnaire study to form lifestyle groups. It also covered the life situations of those surveyed, the need for safety, the commitment to safety, the expectations of relevance to traffic safety and media use. One of the study’s central aims was to achieve a differentiated characterisation of different lifestyle and age groups which may be used in the development and implementation of traffic safety measures for the elderly. A complex theoretical model consisting of the individual features surveyed was examined to prove the traffic safety relevance of these features. A fundamental aspect of this study is a representative survey (N = 2.066) of the 55s and over. This stipulation permits comparisons to be made between younger and older senior citizens as well as a comparison between the age groups of the above mentioned AEMEIS study and the age groups of this SENIORLIFE study. A cluster analysis led to the identification of six lifestyle groups of the elderly which differ greatly from each other in terms of (being at) risk in road traffic. The highest risk as car driver exists for the antisocial type and the stimulation-seeking type. Apart from the traditional media, such as television, radio and printed daily newspapers, people in these lifestyle groups can also be reached well via smartphone and apps. On the whole, their interest in traffic safety is relatively low and their own commitment small (e.g. advice from a doctor), as far as improving their own traffic safety is concerned. By contrast, compensatory mechanisms become clearly evident with increasing age. It emerged that to identify risk groups within the heterogeneous group of the elderly, segmentation on the basis of lifestyles is distinctly superior to segmentation on the basis of life situations. Segmentation according to age groups is also suitable, depending on the question. A path-analytical examination of the theoretical model of the study to explain the reported driving behaviour and accident risk of the elderly resulted in a good adjustment to the empirical data for the entire random sample. These results therefore support the theoretical foundations selected in the SENIORLIFE project. It is therefore recommended that they are used in future research. A number of measures to maintain or improve the traffic safety of the elderly which may be expediently derived from the literature analysis and from the results of the study are similarly recommended. (Author/publisher)
Abstract