The number of seniors in B.C. is expected to climb to over a million in the next decade, but with many in the silver surge living and driving longer comes concerns about road safety in the province. The question is: are they founded, or is age really just a number? 

The vast majority of seniors in the province have a driver’s license. In 2013, there were 568,000 licensed drivers aged 65 and up in B.C., and that growth is expected to continue. 

Five years from now, it's projected there will be 967,000 B.C. seniors. In 10 years that number jumps to over a million. And in just two decades, there will be more than 1.4-million seniors on British Columbian roads.

There have been some high-profile accidents in recent years involving seniors, but the Insurance Corporation of B.C. says the statistics appear to tell a different story.

The senior age group is underrepresented when it comes to crashes, says Ted Ockenden from ICBC.

“They appear very safe in terms of the number of crashes they're involved in,” he said.

He attributes that to seniors moderating their own behavior, driving less overall and having many years of experience on the road. 

But Ockenden said seniors are more often at fault than other age groups when they’re involved in crashes. 

Past research has linked kilometres driven with a higher crash rate for seniors. But more recent studies indicate their crash risk, including the risk of being involved in a fatal crash, has been on the decline.

Tracey Dyck, a trainer at the Valley Driving School in Langley, has worked with drivers in their nineties.

She says many seniors will take extra precautions on the road.

“They tend to put in more strategies to keep themselves safe on road and not take as much risk as maybe young drivers would do,” Dyck said.

She believes that many seniors’ social health and well-being is tied to being able to keep the independence and freedom of driving. 

Sixty-nine-year-old Lorraine Logan, with the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations, agrees. 

Logan feels seniors should be involved in decisions regarding their driving future, including when it’s time to get off the road. 

“Have your own control,” said Logan. “Know when it’s not safe to drive anymore and admit it because we find that's more courageous and more positive than having someone yank it from you.”

It’s a discussion that more people will be having with their families and themselves as the number of senior drivers continues to grow in the years to come. 

Watch CTV News at Six on Monday and Tuesday for Maria Weisgarber’s series on senior drivers in B.C.