Walking and Cycling Seniors The most vulnerable road

Walking and Cycling Seniors The most vulnerable road users Heike Martensen Belgian Road Safety Institute

The risk of walking and cycling? ‣ Walking and cycling is good for all of us! ‣ Environment ‣ Condition ‣ Health ‣ What are the risks? How can we make it more safe? ‣ Data needs ‣ Crash data ‣ Hospital data ‣ Mobility data 1

@Risk ‣ Risk of severe injury (MAIS 3+) ‣ Risk per km travelled ‣ Relative to average car occupant Belgium 2007 -2011 2

@Risk ‣ Risk of severe injury (MAIS 3+) ‣ Risk per km travelled ‣ Relative to average car occupant Belgium 2007 -2011 3

The risk of walking and cycling? ‣ Large risks for ‣ Beginners ‣ Elderly ‣ Especially 75+ ‣ ‣ ‣ Motorcyclists Cyclists Pedestrians 4

The aging society Seniors form a growing part of society. Share of elderly people in Belgian Population Source: Belgian Federal Planning Bureau, 2012 5

The aging society – comparing countries Proportion of seniors (>65) 0. 35 0. 3 0. 25 0. 2 0. 15 % > 65 2015 0. 1 % > 65 2050 0. 05 an y m G er N et he rla nd s nc e Fr a lg iu m Be 27 0 EU Rising number of senior citizens in all European countries. Source: Eurostat 6

The aging society – increasing mobility Seniors are a very heterogeneous group. Mobility is increasing. Source: GOAL, 2012 7

The aging society – crash statistics Number of elderly fatalities and percentage of all road fatalities, EU, 2005 -2014 Crash statistics reflect rising share of elderly people in society and transport. Source: ERSO 2016 8

Fatal crash victims in Belgium 900 Half of the elderly victims who died in traffic were pedestrians or cyclists. Fatalities 2008 - 2012 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Car - passenger Car - driver Motorcycle/moped Cyclist Pedestrian 15 -24 200 387 127 38 57 25 -34 99 378 176 14 40 35 -44 58 250 162 28 47 45 -54 34 227 141 44 56 55 -64 16 162 49 59 57 65 -74 24 140 10 76 74 75 -84 28 120 8 76 98 85+ 16 24 0 22 53 Belgium 2008 -2012 9

Age related changes ‣ Safer ‣ More careful, more respect for rules ‣ Avoiding critical situations (rush-hour, darkness) ‣ Limitations ‣ Sight: sharpness, periphery, darkness, depth ‣ Attention: double tasking, overview, relevance ‣ Reaction time: perception, judgement, decision, execution. ‣ Flexibility: Head turns, balance, steadiness ‣ Vulnerability: Resistance, recovery ‣ Wide differences among elderly! 10

Pedestrian accidents ‣ 1 out of 3 pedestrians killed was falling (no vehicle involved) ‣ In Belgium not a “road traffic accident” ‣ Mostly elderly pedestrians ‣ For vehicle related crashes: ‣ 7 out of 10 was crossing road (elderly) ‣ Unsigned and zebra crossings ‣ Main causes: ‣ Misjudgement of vehicle speeds ‣ Overestiation of own walking speed Feypell, Papadimitriou, & Granié, 2010 ‣ Traffic density Dommes, Cavallo, Vienne, & Aillerie, 2012 Liu & Tung, 2014 ‣ Two sided traffic Ewert, 2012 11

Cyclist accidents ‣ 4 out of 10: no motor vehicle involved ‣ Seldom registered by police ‣ Main causes for elderly: ‣ Fall (-> 75+) ‣ Obstacle (-> 50+) ‣ Other cyclist (-> 50+) ‣ For vehicle related crashes: ‣ Crossings ‣ Turning left Nuyttens & Van Belleghem, 2014 Davidse et al. , 2014 Martensen, 2014 12

Accident with seniors ‣ More accidents at crossings ‣ Left turn (cars & cyclists) ‣ Crossing (Pedestrians) ‣ What’s going on? ‣ Complex situation ‣ Judgement distance & speed of others ‣ Perception of others in periphery. ‣ Balance & stability ‣ Why so serious? ‣ Physical vulnerability 13

What to do? ‣ Safe for elderly -> safe for everybody ‣ Overview ‣ Right angels ‣ Traffic from one side only ‣ Sight distance ‣ Lower speed

What to do? ‣ Maintenance ‣ Surfaces (potholes, slippery leaves, ice…) ‣ Avoidance of obstacles ‣ Curb

What to do? ‣ Data ‣ Falling pedestrians & cyclists are never/seldom registered by police ‣ Linking hospital and police data ‣ Including pedestrians falling into accident statistics? ‣ Other aspects can make elderly refrain from walking and cycling ‣ Darkness ‣ Fear of crime ‣ Need for detailed mobility data

Conclusion ‣ Walking & cycling is healthy! ‣ But … ‣ Walkers and cyclists have an increased risked for severe injuries ‣ Especially 75+ ‣ Half of elderly killed in traffic have been walking or cycling ‣ Making cycling & walking safer is a necessary precondition for promoting it – especially among seniors.

Thank you for your attention! heike. martensen@bivv. be

References ‣ ‣ ‣ ‣ Dommes, A. , Cavallo, V. , Vienne, F. , & Aillerie, I. (2012). Age-related differences in street-crossing safety before and after training in older pedestrians. Accident Analysis & Prevention 44, 42 -47. Ewert, U. (2012). Faktenblatt Senioren als Fussgänger. Bern: Bf. U. European Commission, Traffic Safety Basic Facts on The Elderly, European Commission, Directorate General for Transport, June 2016. Feypell, V. , Papadimitriou, E. , & Granié, M. (2010). Pedestrian safety data. In: Functional needs - Part B of the final report to the COST 358 project Pedestrian's quality needs. Delft: European Science Foundation. Liu, Y. , & Tung, Y. (2014). Risk analysis of pedestrians' road-crossing decisions: Effects of age, time gap, time of day, and vehicle speed. Safety Science, 77 -82. Martensen, H. (2014). @Risk. Analyse van het risico op ernstige en dodelijke ver-wondingen in het verkeer in functie van leeftijd en verplaatsingswijze. Brussel: Belgisch Instituut voor de Verkeersveiligheid – Kenniscentrum Verkeersveiligheid. Martensen, H. (2014). Senioren in het verkeer. Mobiliteit en verkeersveiligheid van oudere weggebruikers. Brussels: Knowledgecenter Road Safety, Belgian Road Safety Institute.