[SystemSafety] Safety of vulnerable road users: UK

[Mike Ellims]

>From personal experience with two bike equipped primary school kids I’d say we have a minor incident one or two times per month and a major incident that gets them told off with a bike ban maybe once or twice per year. But major I mean that a motorized vehicle drive had to take some avoiding action.

 

A part of the issue is that drivers don’t account for the fact that a five (and seven) year old on a bike is not actually a rational actor, and a large part of the time not even a reasonable approximation to one. For example if Thing #2 is mad at Thing #1 (most of the time) being mad takes precedence over riding safely and pretty much anything else.

 

Thus from experience the numbers 2 out of 5 nearly hit don’t seem at all unreasonable.

 

From: systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de [mailto:systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de] On Behalf Of Peter Bernard Ladkin
Sent: 17 November 2014 06:36
To: <systemsafety at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de>
Subject: [SystemSafety] Safety of vulnerable road users: UK

 

A report in The Guardian this morning

[begin quote]

41% of primary pupils hit or nearly hit by cars

  _____  

More than two in five primary schoolchildren say they have been hit or nearly hit by a vehicle while on foot or on a bike, according to a survey by the road safety charity Brake released for Road Safety Week. Two-thirds of the 4,787 pupils aged seven to 11 who were polled thought roads in their community could be dangerous for walking and cycling, and 41% said they had been struck by a vehicle or had a near miss.

Brake highlighted figures showing that motorists are picking up fines for speeding and careless driving at a rate of almost two a minute.

A total of 950,505 fixed-penalty notices were issued for speeding last year, and a further 17,483 were issued for careless driving. Brake is launching a campaign calling on road users to look out for each other to help cut the rate of five deaths and 61 serious injuries a day on the roads.

The charity’s deputy chief executive, Julie Townsend, said: “When drivers use roads without care for others, the consequences can be tragic and horrific. That’s why we’re asking all road users to look out for and protect each other.” 

PA

 

[end quote]

 

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, University of Bielefeld and Causalis Limited



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