Mature Drivers

Iowa Population and Trends

- From “What Iowa Data Says—A Summary of Facts” by Robert Thompson, Program Evaluator, Iowa
Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, Department of Public Safety
How fast are Iowans aging? Quickly, as the following information demonstrates.

• Iowa ranks 4th in the nation in our percentage of population over age 65.
• Iowa ranks near the top in all older driver percentage age groups—second only to Florida in drivers over age 85.
• More than one Iowa driver in six is age 65 or older (350,000 people).
• A 30% increase in the number of Iowans over the age of 65 is expected by the year 2020.

Population Growth of Age 65+
Census projections provided by Iowa State University’s Department of Sociology indicate that Iowa’s population of people age 65 and older will grow from just more than 440,000 to more than 680,000 by the year 2025. By 2015 there will be nearly 100,000 more Iowa senior citizens than there are today.

Iowa Drivers of Age 65+
Nearly 80 percent of Iowa’s current seniors are licensed drivers. If this population trend continues, Iowa could have nearly 540,000 licensed drivers age 65 and older by 2025. This would represent an increase of nearly 60%— almost 200,000 additional Iowa senior drivers.

Since 1998, a total of 369 people age 65 and older have been killed in Iowa crashes, an average of 92 per year. In 1998 alone, more than 100 older people perished in Iowa crashes. Senior citizens make up 20 percent of all Iowa traffic deaths. When seniors get in crashes they are more likely to be killed than any other age group.

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