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Includes
walking health benefits and tips for staying safe at
intersections for mature adults.
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While fewer
in number, pedestrian crashes involving older adults are devastating
to their victims. As a general rule, older adults are struck
while crossing streets in crosswalks or by drivers making turning
movements through crosswalks. Older adults are very law-abiding
pedestrians.
Most older adults struck are in good physical condition. They
are out on foot, walking for business or pleasure or to maintain
their health. Most have many years of healthy life ahead. Still,
they are fragile. Being struck by a car is often a death sentence.
If they survive the crash, they may be disabled or confined
to a nursing home. The victim's life suffers in quality and
is severely shortened.
Older adults are very receptive to well crafted safety messages.
They need to know about the threats presented by cars making
turns. They need to know that choice of footwear (good traction)
and more visible clothing (bright and visible) are important
factors in protecting themselves.
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Helpful
Links:
Focusing
on the Senior Pedestrian:
In 1994, pedestrian crashes took the lives of 1,249 senior
adults, ages 65 and older. U.S. Department of Transportation.
Federal Highway Administration.
http://www.tfhrc.gov//safety/pedbike/facts/oldped.htm
Give Elderly Pedestrians More Time To Cross Intersections:
The safety of elderly pedestrians at five urban intersections
in Miami. A press release.
http://www.msstate.edu/org/gerontology/hfes-gep.htm
Hey! Older pedestrians need more time than that to cross
a street!
This article focuses on the need for longer traffic walk lights,
zoning, and education for the older pedestrian population.
This article was written for the Partnership for a Walkable
America by Emily Smith of the University of North Carolina
Highway Safety Research Center.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/pedbike/articles/hey.htm
Ice, snow and slippery sidewalks: For many seniors, winter
is "hip season"
This article focuses on hazardous winter walking conditions
and the effect they have on the senior population. This article
was written for the Partnership for a Walkable America by
Emily Smith of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety
Research Center.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/pedbike/articles/hipseasn.htm
Making streets safer for seniors on foot:
Older walkers face the same dangers as younger pedestrians
but often have less physical agility to cope with those dangers.
Article provided by the Pedestrian Safety Roadshow. U.S. Department
of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safety/fourthlevel/pdf/streets.pdf
Focusing on the Senior Pedestrian:
Pedestrian Information from the FHWA.
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roaduser/pdf/PedFacts1.pdf
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