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Pedestrians

What is the extent of the pedestrian road safety problem?

Pedestrians participate in traffic without any protection and therefore belong to the category 'vulnerable road users'. In the Netherlands, the 5-11 year olds and the over-75s have the highest risk of becoming a road crash casualty. The high crash rate among children is mainly caused by the fact that their cognitive skills are not yet completely developed, which for instance causes them to have problems crossing the road. A increased physical vulnerability and functional limitations affect road safety for the elderly. Although Dutch crash data shows that since 1994 the number of severely injured pedestrians has dropped to approximately 80 deaths and 600 in-patients in 2005, the real number of in-patients is actually higher because of a declining registration rate over the last few years.

For more details: SWOV Fact sheet Pedestrians (pdf)