BREAKING NEWS

38 percent of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents were seniors

About 38 percent of all pedestrians killed in 2014 traffic accidents were senior citizens – a figure 3.5 times higher than their portion of the population, according to a newly published Central Bureau of Statistics report. As of the end of 2014, senior citizens accounted for about 900,000 members, or 10.8%, of the Israeli population, of which 503,000 were women and 397,000 were men.
All in all, in the country's 11,772 road accidents that occurred last year, about 1,987 of the 21,910 people injured were seniors, or about 9% of the total, the CBS data said. Sixty-five seniors were killed in traffic accidents this year (about 23% of all road fatalities), 310 were severely injured (about 20% of all severe road injuries) and the rest faced minor injuries (about 8% of all minor traffic injuries).
The most common driving violation committed by senior citizens involved in traffic accidents in 2014 was a failure to give way to pedestrians – 23% of drivers facing accidents in this age group, as opposed to 15% in the rest of the population, the CBS data said. Also problematic was non-compliance with traffic lights, at 21%, though this percentage was similar to that of the rest of the population, the data added.