Attitudes and Behavior of Elderly Pedestrians

Considering the increased traffic incident rate of pedestrians above sixty-five years of age, a study of attitudes and behavior patterns of older pedestrians in large towns was carried out by the Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, from 1973 to 1975. Interviews, group sessions, and additional thematic apperception tests were performed, as well as traffic observation and an analysis of behavior which was followed by accident events. Results showed many indications of especially dangerous traffic situations and especially risky behavior tendencies in older people. Recommendations can be derived for improving traffic communication dynamics and for influencing the traffic behavior of older pedestrians.