Improving Safety for Older Public Transport Users
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Loughborough Design School
Abstract
Older people generally become more dependent upon public transport in later life as their ownership and use of passenger cars becomes more difficult. Therefore, it is necessary that they perceive the public transport system as safe. However, preventable injuries do occur during public transport use and this feasibility study will examine how these injuries are caused in a sample of accidents involving public transport vehicles (in the East Midlands of England), the effect that design engineering has upon them and how injuries could be prevented by engineering solutions.
Technical Summary
The increasing general age of the UK population coupled with enhanced life expectancy will have an impact on transport-user demographics and in turn will impact on transport planning in the years ahead. Whist personal car use is seen as the ultimate means of independence, at some point the physiological and psychological impact of age-related conditions will inevitably remove people out of their vehicles and onto the public transport system. Overall, public transport is seen to be vital for social inclusion (Lucas et al 2008, Rowntree Foundation) and it is generally considered as a safe means of mobility. However, it is extremely important that the public perceive it to be so. This is particularly the case for the elderly who may be especially reliant on it to function normally within society if they reach the point whereby personal car-use is no longer an option.
However, injuries to older public transport users do occur and sometimes these may be severe. These in turn can impact on the public perception of public transport. Therefore, this is a multi-disciplinary pilot study which aims to look at the feasibility of developing a tool for assessing the mechanisms of injuries to older public transport users and how they can be mitigated.
The overall outcome will be a pilot database whose capability will be demonstrated as an injury surveillance system for older public transport users. Once the value of a system has been highlighted, the long-term intention is that the surveillance system can be used to determine injury mechanisms during public transport usage and how they can be addressed through design or operational changes.
The study will involve the use of record-linkage involving medical records from the Accident and Emergency Departments of the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) and the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. These medical records will be linked to accident reports from the UK Police, the Local Service Operators, the Health and Safety Executive and other authorities.
The study will also include the piloting of an investigation protocol for accidents involving older public transport users to assess the feasibility of a widespread activity. The study will also undertake cost-benefit analyses in respect of regulatory actions and design changes that may be introduced as a result of the data analyses.
However, injuries to older public transport users do occur and sometimes these may be severe. These in turn can impact on the public perception of public transport. Therefore, this is a multi-disciplinary pilot study which aims to look at the feasibility of developing a tool for assessing the mechanisms of injuries to older public transport users and how they can be mitigated.
The overall outcome will be a pilot database whose capability will be demonstrated as an injury surveillance system for older public transport users. Once the value of a system has been highlighted, the long-term intention is that the surveillance system can be used to determine injury mechanisms during public transport usage and how they can be addressed through design or operational changes.
The study will involve the use of record-linkage involving medical records from the Accident and Emergency Departments of the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) and the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. These medical records will be linked to accident reports from the UK Police, the Local Service Operators, the Health and Safety Executive and other authorities.
The study will also include the piloting of an investigation protocol for accidents involving older public transport users to assess the feasibility of a widespread activity. The study will also undertake cost-benefit analyses in respect of regulatory actions and design changes that may be introduced as a result of the data analyses.
