The number of crashes involving older drivers has reached an all time high, new figures reveal.
According to the data, the proportion of accidents involving 70 to 80 year-olds has jumped from 4% in the mid-00s to 7% last year.
Meanwhile, the proportion of crashes involving over-80s has doubled to 4% from 2% over the same time period.
Figures show the over-70s are driving 50 per cent further a year compared to 20 years ago and are now more likely to have accidents – meaning more than 50 per cent more smashes.
The new statistics emerged a month after June Mills, 96, became the oldest woman in Britain to admit to causing death by dangerous driving.
While, in August, a man and woman were killed along with a motorist in his 80s, when he ploughed into them as they were walking in Anglesey.
The sharp increase in crashes has been blamed on declining bus services.
Michael Solomon Williams from the Campaign for Better Transport, told the Telegraph the accidents were due to ‘the decimation of the rural bus network’.
June Mills (pictured leaving court) is thought to be the oldest woman in Britain to admit to causing death by dangerous driving
Pictured are emergency services at the scene in Formby after her Vauxhall Corsa mounted the pavement and collided with two pedestrians in August 2023
William Beer, of Llanbradach, South Wales, admitted causing the death by dangerous driving of 84-year-old Illtyd Morgan
He said: ‘Older people need confidence that they won’t be disconnected from friends, family and medical care if they stop driving, which means lost bus routes must be reinstated and long-term funding agreed to keep buses running.’
Since 2005 the amount of miles accumulated by bus services has plummeted by over a quarter, down from 1.6 billion miles to 1.2 billion, statistics have shown.
Campaigners have warned that it is the elderly – particularly in more rural areas – are the ones bearing the brunt of this decline, as it makes it more challenging for them to meet friends and attend appointments.
Director of pensioner lobby group Silver Voices, Dennis Reed explained that when public transport isn’t an option expensive taxis, or lifts from friends are sometimes the only alternative.
In October, the Labour Government announced the national bus fare cap outside of London would increase from £2 to £3 in the most recent budget.
They outlined that bus route funding for local councils would rise by £925 million.
It comes as a woman, 96, became the oldest woman in Britain to admit to causing death by dangerous driving after she killed a pensioner and injured a pedestrian with her Vauxhall Corsa.
According to data sourced from the Department for Transport, the number of driving licences given to over 70s has risen two fold 2003
96-year-old William Beer (pictured centre) has pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving
Emergency services at the scene on Alma Street in Beaumaris on Anglesey, where two men and a woman died in a horror crash in August
June Mills, of Ainsdale, Merseyside, sat in her wheelchair in the public gallery of the courtroom, with her husband behind her, to enter the plea at the Liverpool Crown Court hearing in August.
She admitted causing the death of Brenda Joyce, 76, on Elbow Lane in Formby on August 2 last year.
Tom Gent, defending, said Mills, of previous good character, was only able to walk a few paces and would be unlikely to be fit to carry out unpaid work.
He said her mobility had worsened since the collision, when he said she mounted the kerb because she applied too much accelerator while driving her Vauxhall Corsa.
Elsewhere in Anglesey, a man and woman were killed after an Audi driven by a man in his ploughed into them as they were visiting a popular seaside resort in August.
The pair, in their 60s, were walking in Anglesey when the car swerved to avoid a horse and carriage before ploughing into them.
The driver, a man in his 80s, also died at the scene.
The car, driven by a man in his 80s, is said to have struck two pedestrians as it swerved to avoid a horse-drawn carriage
Police and paramedics rushed to the Beaumaris seafront shortly after 2.45pm on August 28 to reports that a driver had become unwell before hitting pedestrians.
Officers confirmed a woman and man in their 60s had been walking when the car ploughed into them, killing them and the elderly motorist.
In 2023, William Beer, of Llanbradach, South Wales, in his 90s, was jailed after knocking down an elderly pensioner crossing the road with his Zimmer frame.
William Beer, admitted causing the death by dangerous driving of 84-year-old Illtyd Morgan, who was described by family as a ‘hard-working’ and ‘lovely’ man.
The fatal incident happened just after midday on April 6, 2021 in Caerphilly.
Judge Williams sentenced Beer to two years and four months, and also banned him from driving for six years and two months.