Accident Insurance Claims Unlikely To Rise as Baby Boomers Age: Study

Aging baby boomers are unlikely to cause an increase in auto accidents or insurance claim rates, according to the findings of a new study. 

Researchers from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) have published a study called Changing Mix (PDF), which predicts that even though many baby boomers are causing sharp increases in the elderly population, that will not necessarily translate into more car accidents. The reason could be because baby boomers are not inclined to keep driving as they get older.

In 1997, there were fewer than 18 million drivers older than 75. By 2010, that number topped 22 million.

Some observers have been concerned that a large increase in the elderly population as baby boomers get older will translate into more accidents on the road. Although it is known that elderly drivers face an increased risk of auto accidents, researchers indicate that baby boomers do not continue to drive in large numbers once they get older.

“Even though the segment of the population older than 65 years is expected to be 77 percent larger in 2030 than in 2010, it still will comprise a smaller proportion of the total driving-aged population than those younger than 30,” the researchers concluded. “And while all drivers younger than 30 have higher than average claim rates, on the older end of the spectrum only those 80 and over do.”

Researchers indicate that the largest concern should still be focused on the youngest drivers, who have insurance claim rates 68 percent higher than average, compared with 23 percent higher than average for the oldest drivers over the age of 80.

The largest segment of the driving population will remain drivers between the ages of 30 and 64, according to researchers from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), which is a group that has lower than average insurance claim rates.