According to the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s report, there were 5,977 pedestrians killed in traffic crashes, which accounted for 16% of all traffic fatalities in 2017. Flor..
According to the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s report, there were 5,977 pedestrians killed in traffic crashes, which accounted for 16% of all traffic fatalities in 2017. Florida has much higher pedestrian fatalities rate at 70% higher than the national average. By 2020, approximately 40.8% of Florida residents will be reaching above 50 years of age. More than 15.5 million 65+ Americans live in areas where public transportation is inadequate or nonexistent. These non-driving adults must then either walk or use another nonmotorized mode of transportation. Elder adults are more vulnerable as pedestrians, and safety issues have not been well addressed for them. Even though the 65+ population accounts for 13.7% of overall population in the US, about 18% percent of all fatalities people were 65+. Not many researches or countermeasures have been researched and developed for this age group. This group may suffer age-related physical changes such as vision impairments, hearing impairments, chronic conditions, cognition changes, less muscle efficiency, etc., which place them at a higher risk for injury or death. The objectives for this research project are to: 1) determine the safety performance of elder adults as pedestrians; and 2) to understand crash prone locations and major contributing factors through historical crash data of several years. Results from this study will provide traffic agencies with a better understanding of the crash occurrences, help in incident management, and improve safety and reduce the number of crashes and crash severity levels.
