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   Review of safety and mobility issues among older pedestriansTournier, Isabelle  ; ; in Accident Analysis & Prevention (2016), 91 Although old people make up an extremely vulnerable road-user group, older pedestrians’ difficulties have been studied less extensively than those of older drivers, and more knowledge of this issue is ... [more ▼] Although old people make up an extremely vulnerable road-user group, older pedestrians’ difficulties have been studied less extensively than those of older drivers, and more knowledge of this issue is still required. The present paper reviews current knowledge of older-adult problems with the main components of pedestrian activity, i.e., walking and obstacle negotiation, wayfinding, and road crossing. Compared to younger ones, old pedestrians exhibit declining walking skills, with a walking speed decrease, less stable balance, less efficient wayfinding strategies, and a greater number of unsafe road crossing behaviors. These difficulties are linked to age-related changes in sensorial, cognitive, physical, and self-perception abilities. It is now known that visual impairment, physical frailty, and attention deficits have a major negative impact on older pedestrians' safety and mobility, whereas the roles of self-evaluation and self-regulation are still poorly understood. All these elements must be taken into consideration, not only in developing effective safety interventions targeting older pedestrians, but also in designing roads and cars. Recent initiatives are presented here and some recommendations are proposed. [less ▲] Detailed reference viewed: 155 (1 UL) Crossing a two-way street: comparison of young and old pedestrians; ; et al in Journal of Safety Research (2014), 50 Introduction Choosing a safe gap in which to cross a two-way street is a complex task and only few experiments have investigated age-specific difficulties. Method A total of 18 young (age 19–35), 28 ... [more ▼] Introduction Choosing a safe gap in which to cross a two-way street is a complex task and only few experiments have investigated age-specific difficulties. Method A total of 18 young (age 19–35), 28 younger-old (age 62–71) and 38 older-old (age 72–85 years) adults participated in a simulated street-crossing experiment in which vehicle approach speed and available time gaps were varied. The safe and controlled simulated environment allowed participants to perform a real walk across an experimental two-way street. The differences between the results for the two lanes are of particular interest to the study of visual exploration and crossing behaviors. Results The results showed that old participants crossed more slowly, adopted smaller safety margins, and made more decisions that led to collisions than did young participants. These difficulties were found particularly when vehicles approached in the far lane, or rapidly. Whereas young participants considered the time gaps available in both lanes to decide whether to cross the street, old participants made their decisions mainly on the basis of the gap available in the near lane while neglecting the far lane. Conclusions The present results point to attentional deficits as well as physical limitations in older pedestrians and have implications in terms of road design and pedestrian training. [less ▲] Detailed reference viewed: 154 (11 UL)Mobility and safety of elderly drivers and pedestrians: review of interventions and training programmesTournier, Isabelle ; ; Poster (2012) Detailed reference viewed: 51 (5 UL)Sécurité et mobilité des usagers âgés de la route : impacts des déclins cognitifs et possibilités d’entraînementTournier, Isabelle ; ; Poster (2012) Detailed reference viewed: 56 (3 UL) |
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