ELDERLY PEDESTRIAN ISSUES

Pedestrian travel is a major mode of transportation, even in highly motorised countries and most road users are pedestrians for at least some of the time that they are using the road system. While its importance has been under-estimated in the past, walking is vital to the mobility of older road users, not only to carry out essential daily tasks, but also an important factor in maintaining social contacts and exercise. It follows, then, that safe pedestrian travel is also an important factor in maintaining mobility for older adults. Pedestrians, particularly older ones, however, are a vulnerable road user group and are at great risk of injury or death when involved in a crash and there is a growing awareness of the need to provide a better and safer pedestrian environment. This paper discusses the emerging older pedestrian problem in Australia and presents evidence to suggest that behavioural factors, in part, playa role, in the crash risk of older pedestrians. It also identifies a range of safety initiatives and research necessary to address the safety of older pedestrians in Australia. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E207999.