Elderly perception of critical issues of pedestrian paths

Abstract

Pedestrians aged over 65 are known to be a critical group in terms of road safety because they represent the age group with the highest number of fatalities or injured persons in road accidents. It is therefore important to identify and characterize how old pedestrians perceive pedestrian paths with respect to their age related declines in perceptual and physical abilities and with respect to their experiences as road users. The aim of this study is first of all to understand which critical issues old pedestrians found in the pedestrian paths they usually walk. More specifically, the final aim is to capture and analyze the key components that influence the elderly pedestrians’ perception of pedestrian paths and to identify how these perceptions change for different pedestrian "profiles" based on human factors. The aspects related to human factors considered are the gender, the factors associated with the experience as road users and the factors related to age related problems (mobility, vision and hearing problems). The results show that the judgment expressed by the elderly on the critical issues of pedestrian paths they usually walk is significantly linked to gender, to their experience as road users, and to vision problem, which compromise the correct perception of the road environment. This is important to determine interventions and could support traffic engineers, planners, and decision-makers to consider the contributing factors in engineering countermeasures.