Safety issues with elderly cyclists and barriers to cycling

Abstract

The mobility habits of elderly people are observed to arrive at an assessment of their views, as road users, on certain safety issues. A number of activities were organised for the survey in the city of Burgos, Spain that are detailed together with their methodology. This paper reports on the results of two surveys and the provisional conclusions drawn from them. The analysis examined the daily mobility habits of elderly people over 60 years of age, focusing especially on bicycle travel, travel by private vehicle and motorcycle, public transport and on foot. The findings suggest that elderly people prefer segregated bike lanes where they feel safer when travelling by bicycle. From their perspective, coexistence with pedestrians involves major hazards. Moreover, the authors consider that elderly people need to develop a greater awareness of safety elements, especially personal ones. This study is encompassed within the framework of the European Project SaMERU (safer mobility for elderly road users), which aims to reduce significantly major accidents on urban roads in the coming years in all member states of the EU.