Injuries to older users of buses in the UK

Jo Barnes (), Andrew Morris, Ruth Welsh, Steve Summerskill, Russ Marshall, Denise Kendrick, Pip Logan, Avril Drummond, Simon Conroy, Brian Fildes and Julie Bell
Additional contact information
Jo Barnes: Loughborough University Design School
Andrew Morris: Loughborough University Design School
Ruth Welsh: Loughborough University Design School
Steve Summerskill: Loughborough University Design School
Russ Marshall: Loughborough University Design School
Denise Kendrick: University of Nottingham
Pip Logan: University of Nottingham
Avril Drummond: University of Nottingham
Simon Conroy: University Hospitals Leicester
Brian Fildes: Monash University Accident Research Centre
Julie Bell: Health and Safety Laboratory

Public Transport, 2016, vol. 8, issue 1, No 2, 25-38

Abstract: Abstract The increasing age of the United Kingdom (UK) population coupled with enhanced life expectancy impacts on transport-user demographics and will affect transport planning in the years ahead. Whilst passenger car use is the ultimate means of personal independence, at some point the physiological and psychological impact of age-related conditions will inevitably shift people out of their vehicles and onto public transport systems. Overall, public transport is seen to be vital for social inclusion (Lucas et al. 2008) and it is considered a safe means of mobility. However, it is important that the public and, in particular, the elderly perceive it to be so. Injuries (across a spectrum of severities) do occur during public transport use from time to time. In fact, over 5000 people are injured on UK buses each year alone with over 300 bus-users killed/seriously injured (Department for Transport 2013). This study was designed to examine the nature of injuries and their causes to older bus-users with the aim being to establish where design countermeasures may be indicated. The study uses descriptive statistics to analyse linked (accident and injury) data involving a sample of older bus-users. Most incidents in the linked dataset were non-collisions (62 %) resulting in 1381 recorded injuries in those aged 60+ years, of which 46 % were ‘slight’ and 54 %‘serious’.

Keywords: Bus; Older passengers; Injury; 60+ years; Injury severity; Public transportation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12469-015-0113-8

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