Improving safety for older public transport users (OPTU) - a feasibility study
Jo Barnes
Clare Lawton
Andrew Morris
Russell Marshall
Steve Summerskill
Denise Kendrick
Pip Logan
Avril Drummond
Brian Fildes
Simon Conroy
2134/20342
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/report/Improving_safety_for_older_public_transport_users_OPTU_-_a_feasibility_study/9353360
On the whole, the UK public transport system is generally considered to provide
a safe means of mobility. However, each year, around 6,000 people are
reported by the UK police to be injured whilst using buses with more than 400
persons killed or seriously injured. Approximately 50% of those injured or killed
are aged over 65 years (Department for Transport 2008). However it is
thought that there are many more injured older bus-users who are not included
in the national statistics and whom may now avoid travelling on public
transport because of previous injuries and experiences. Whilst free travel
(particularly on buses) has allowed senior citizens the freedom to travel for
pleasure and social inclusion, injuries or near-falls that may occur during the
journey can impact on future decisions to travel leading in some cases to
anxiety/fear of sustaining further injury, loss of personal mobility and
ultimately social isolation.
This Feasibility Study was funded within the Medical Research Council (MRC)
Lifelong Health and Wellbeing programme in order to examine the general
safety (but not security) of older public transport users. It explores injury type
and causation and proposes design interventions for injury prevention with an
overall objective of exploring how public transport use could possibly be made
safer for older transport-users.
A mixed methods design was used to collect and collate data from a number of
sources. These included published research literature, national accident
datasets, bus-operator records, service user consultations and other stakeholder
consultations with groups representing the 60+ year’s age group. The ultimate
aim was to develop a pilot injury surveillance database that could in principle be
used to determine vehicle design requirements, transport operator procedures
and transport-user behaviors that could prevent injuries from occurring...(continues).
2016-02-17 13:51:13
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Design Practice and Management not elsewhere classified