In this paper some aspects of the safety of elderly pedestrians and cyclists will be addressed. First, fatality data concerning older pedestrians and cyclists will be presented for a number of countries. Then, attention will be paid to fatality rates per 100,000 inhabitants, and the risks of elderly pedestrians and cyclists to become a victim in a road accident relative to kilometres travelled. Furthermore, a number of underlying factors that may have contributed to the involvement of elderly pedestrians and cyclists in accidents, and to the accident severity will be discussed. Finally, some strategies for countermeasures to increase the safety of elderly pedestrians and cyclists will be presented. The paper concludes with raising the issue why, despite the amount of available knowledge on the safety of elderly road users, so few intervention programmes have actually been implemented. (A)
Abstract