NHTSA Older Adult Pedestrian Safety Demonstration Project Winding Down, Showing Results

Thanks to the commitment and hard work of our partners, this project has brought about results: at one targeted intersection in Stoughton, the percentage of motorists yielding to pedestrians has increased from 8% to 81%.

Our final report (57kb pdf) is now available. We will also have a “Toolkit” available for community organizations interested in using materials developed in the course of this project.

The fact that the vast majority of us are not looking out for pedestrians puts older adults at particularly high risk. Mobility problems, estimating the speed of ongoing vehicles, and determining if a gap in traffic is long enough to safely cross the street can be challenges for some older adults.

We know from local and national statistics that older adults are injured and killed in pedestrian crashes at a higher rate than other age groups, second only to children. Once they sustain an injury from a crash, the elderly face a longer recovery period than younger persons. On average, 103 pedestrians are injured in Madison each year, and 2 are killed. Census data identifies while 10% of Madison’s population is 65 or older, older adults historically account for nearly one-quarter of our pedestrian fatalities.

Safe Communities/NHTSA Older Adult Pedestrian Safety Demonstration Project Partners

Municipal Partners:

Fitchburg
Madison
Middleton
Stoughton
Sun Prairie
Marshall
Shorewood Hills

Community Partners:

Colonial Club Senior Activity Center
Cross Plains Police Department
Madison Gas and Electric Company
Madison Senior Center
Monona Police Department
Stoughton Area Senior Center
UW-Madison Police Department
West Madison Senior Coalition
4 Lakes Driver Training School.
Cummins Filtration Solutions Company (Stoughton)
Capital Neighborhoods, Inc.
Downtown Coordinating Committee (Madison)
Downtown Madison, Inc.
Variety of High School Driver Education Programs

State Partner:

Wisconsin Bureau of Transportation Safety

Contact: Cheryl Wittke, Project Director Tel: 608-256-7813; info@safercommunity.net