Road safety literature suggests that the oldest road users have a high accident risk and that they are much more likely to be severely injured or killed once involved in an accident than any other group of road users. There is also considerable evidence that older people experience deficits not only in their physical abilities but also in sensory, perceptual, and cognitive abilities. Little is known, however, about how these affect road-crossing behaviour and their safety. The purpose of this study was to investigate the road-crossing behaviour of both old and young adult pedestrians to determine whether older pedestrians behaviour was more risky than that of younger pedestrians. The study also aimed to identify target groups and road situations for intervention and to recommend countermeasures designed to reduce the frequency and severity of older pedestrian accidents. Road crossing behaviour of older and younger pedestrians was filmed at two two-lane undivided road strip shopping centre sites, and at one four-lane divided road strip shopping centre site in the Melbourne metropolitan area. Individual road-crossings were filmed unobtrusively from a parked van in which two cameras were set appropriately to record both oncoming near-side traffic and pedestrian movements. Pedestrian behaviour was scored for a number of determinants of safe road crossing actions. Significant differences were observed between young and old pedestrian road crossing behaviour on a number of critical key variables. Overall, the results show that older pedestrians' road crossing behaviour in complex traffic situations was less safe than their younger counterparts. In less complex situations, older pedestrians behaviour was more like that of younger pedestrians. The findings are discussed in relation to age-related sensory, perceptual, cognitive and motor changes and recommendations for countermeasures and further research are made. (A)
Abstract