Looking closely at the needs of elderly drivers and pedestrians across Europe

摘要

A research project called SaMERU - Safer Mobility for Elderly Road Users - could help to make highways more forgiving for older persons say Paul Mathieson and Adrian Dean. People are living longer and have an increasing demand to remain mobile well into their later years. Drivers over 65 years of age are now the fastest growing of all driver groups in industrialised countries (Siren & Kjaer, 2011). In terms of collisions per mile drivers over 85 years of age are the second most vulnerable age group after those under 20 (Loughran 2007). Many people have become over dependent on the car as their main means of transport which may present road safety and health issues as we get older. To address these issues the European Commission has co-funded SaMERU, a 30 month ?1.3M road safety research project led by Southend on Sea Borough Council in partnership with the City of Burgos (Spain), IFSTTAR (the French institute of transport technology), Lancashire County Council, City of Modena (Italy) and the Technical University of Dresden (Germany).