イタルダインフォメーションに関するお問い合せ先

渉外事業課

TEL 03-5577-3973

FAX 03-5577-3980

公益財団法人 交通事故総合分析センター●ウェブサイト http://www.itarda.or.jp/ ●Eメール koho@itarda.or.jp●フェイスブック https://www.facebook.com/itarda.or
本部〒101-0064 東京都千代田区猿楽町2-7-8 住友水道橋ビル8階
TEL 03-5577-3977(代表) FAX 03-5577-3980

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

つくば 交通事故調査事務所

2810

住 友 水 道 橋 ビル８ 階

Reference material
1) ITARDA Information No. 87: “Nighttime fatal accidents involving senior pedestrians,” February 2011
2) ITARDA Information No. 83: “Accidents between vehicles and pedestrians,” May 2010
3) Michiaki Sekine, Yasuhiro Matsui, et. al., “Basic survey on traﬃc characteristics and road crossing times by elderly
people for preventing pedestrian traﬃc accidents,” overview of a lecture at the National Traﬃc Safety
and Environment Laboratory Forum, PP38-42, 2012
4) Kazutaka Mitobe, Fourth Traﬃc Safety Education Using Simulators, People and Cars, P30-31, Jan. 2016

~ Conﬁrming safety while crossing the road prevents collision accidents ~01

DaytimeElderly people
Non-elderly people

Dec.

Oct.

Nov.

Jul.

Sept.

40

Aug.

Jun.

0

Apr.

20

May

60

Fatal accidents are concentrated
among the elderly(37% of the total)

40

Mar.

80

Nighttime

60

Jan.

100

80

Feb.

No.118

公益財団法人 交通事故総合分析センター〒101 0064 東 京 都 千 代 田 区 猿 楽 町 ２ ７ ８(Hiromu Shibasaki)

Accidents involving elderly pedestrians
while crossing the roadlSpeciafeature120■ Precautions to be heeded by vehicle drivers
・Drivers should turn on their headlights early before the sun goes down in order to make elderly pedestrians
aware of the vehicle’s presence.
・Many elderly pedestrians think that vehicles will yield the road to them. Drivers who detect such a pedestrian
standing on the sidewalk or road shoulder should consider that they may cross, be cautious of theirsurroundings, and drive while being prepared for all eventualities.
・They should pay due attention to pedestrians standing on the sidewalks or road shoulders of oncoming traffic
lanes, or those crossing over oncoming traffic lanes. Especially at nighttime, they should frequently switch theirheadlights between high beam and low beam in an effort to detect pedestrians sooner.
・When drivers relax their attention and drive aimlessly because they are on a road they are familiar with driving,or when their caution declines significantly because they are lost in thought, it delays them in detecting that
there are pedestrians crossing the road. They should take the wheel with the awareness that there are all themore latent dangers when they are on roads they are familiar with.
・They must consider that elderly pedestrians may cross despite the fact that there are vehicles driving towards
them in locations where facilities like hospitals, convenience stores, shopping centers, and family restaurants
are concentrated, especially locations where they are lined up facing one another. Rather than thinking that
there’s definitely no way that a pedestrian would start crossing right in front of them, they must drive cautiously,
especially in the several hours immediately after the sun sets.
・Paragraph 2-2, Article 71 of the Road Traffic Act clearly states that drivers must come to a temporary stop or
slow down so as not to hinder the passage of elderly pedestrians who may have moving disabilities. As such, itmandates that drivers must protect elderly pedestrians.

交通事故分析レポート No.118

No. of fatalities among
elderly pedestrians (people)

・ Elderly pedestrians should be aware of their own declining physical functions and refrain from crossing whenit’s unsafe to do so. When they detect a vehicle far in the distance they should wait it out rather than crossing.
・ They should refrain from crossing at an angle, which takes longer to cross the road, and cross the road in astraight line.
・ They should confirm safety factors from either side without just looking at what is ahead of them and underfoot
when walking across the road. Particularly when they are in the latter half of the crossing, they must look attheir left side to confirm any changes in the traffic conditions, and stop crossing if they get the slightest
impression that it’s dangerous.
・ The majority of accidents occur at nighttime. As such, while it wasn’t mentioned in this report, elderly
pedestrians should make efforts to protect themselves by devising ways so that they can be detected rightaway by the drivers of vehicles. This includes by wearing clothing with colors that are highly visible, or that havereflective materials that reflect car lights attached to them.
・ Even if a person is familiar with normally walking through a place, or have not been put in danger, traffic
conditions are constantly changing. This familiarity and mental carelessness is what leads to a great many
tragic accidents. The more familiar a person is with a place the more they must soundly confirm the safety
factors while maintaining a sense of wariness.

ITARDA INFORMATION

No. of fatalities (people)■ Precautions to be heeded by elderly pedestrians

ITARDA INFORMATION

Based on the characteristics of fatal accidents involving elderly pedestrians while crossing the road,we would like to mention precautions that should be heeded by both pedestrians and drivers.

交通事故分析レポート

4 Conclusion

イタルダ インフォメーション

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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19Time periods in which accidents occur (range)

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23

Accident type: Vehicle to pedestrian, Primary party + Secondary party while crossing the road outside of a pedestrian crossing

Number of pedestrian fatalities while crossing the road (2015)

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l
SpeciafeatureAccidents involving elderly pedestrians while crossing the road
~ Confirming safety while crossing the road prevents collision accidents ~ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

Time periods and locations where fatal accidents involving

1 Introduction

2 elderly pedestrians while crossing the road frequently occur

Of the 4,117 fatalities from traffic accidents in 2015, 2,247 people were elderly people aged 65 or older, accountingfor 54.6% of the total. When this is converted to the number of fatalities per a population of 100,000 people, thenumber of 6.8 fatalities among elderly people is 3.4-times higher than the 2.0 among non-elderly people. Fig. 1
shows the number of fatalities by situation for each age group. It reveals that the number of fatalities of elderly
people of 1,048 accounts for roughly 71% of the total of 1,486 fatalities from traffic accidents while walking. Fig. 2
shows the fatality rate of elderly pedestrians by type of accident for accidents involving a vehicle, in which collisions
between a pedestrian and a four-wheeled vehicle account for 95.8% of the total of the 1,036 fatalities from vehicle
to pedestrian traffic accidents. The share of collisions with a four-wheeled vehicle while the pedestrian is crossing
at a location other than a pedestrian crossing comes to roughly 54%.
ITARDA Information1-2) has dealt with analyses of accidents involving elderly pedestrians in the past from a numberof different perspectives. But this time we will focus on fatal accidents from collisions with vehicles occurring whileelderly people cross the road at a location other than a pedestrian crossing, to take a look at the characteristics
unique to elderly pedestrians based on the accidents that occurred in 2015.

The graph on the front cover shows the number of fatalities from collision accidents with vehicles while elderly andnon-elderly people are crossing the road at locations other than pedestrian crossings by time periods. The numberof fatalities among elderly people vastly exceeds that from among non-elderly people at all times except between
22:00 - 5:00 at night. This reveals that fatal accidents occur in a concentrated manner in the early morning, the firsthalf of the morning, and for several hours at around sundown on into the evening, especially between 17:00 20:00. An analysis of accidents revealed that the number of fatal accidents from after sundown into the evening isroughly 2.8-times higher as an annual average, and that accidents occur with higher frequency on Mondays out of
the weekdays.
Now, at what sorts of locations do elderly pedestrians encounter accidents? Fig. 3 shows the number of fatalities
among elderly pedestrians by road configuration for each time period. This indicates that many fatal accidents
occur at non-signalized intersections, near intersections, and especially on uninterrupted road sections, at 47% of
the total. In addition, a graph that extracts out locations where fatal accidents frequently occur is shown in Fig. 4. In
heavily populated regions there tends to be a relatively higher number of fatal accidents on community roads suchas municipal roads, while in non-urban areas they tend to be higher on general national highways. Fatal accidents
frequently occur when the road being crossed is an uninterrupted road section where a general single lane in one
direction is about 5.5 - 9m wide at 42% of the total, or within intersections at about this same size at 22%.

520
291

＝1,048 people (71%)

237
OthersWalking(1,486 people)

600

Riding a bicycle
400

Riding a moped
Riding a motorcycle

40
20
0
0

1％

Others while
Elderly
crossing
pedestrians
Primary43％+ Secondary
N＝993
While crossing
near a pedestriancrossing

10％

54％

63

7

8

9

10

Fig. 2. Fatality rate among elderly pedestrians by type of accident

75

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

195
（42％）101
（22％）

80

200

60

Other
Within anintersection

150

40

Non-urban
areas

100

20

Urban areas - Other

50

Urban areas- Heavily populated

0

Route

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

6

Topography

Mixed traﬃc lane
Right-turn only lane
Outside of Lane 2
Lane 1
Undivided road0Intersection(large)While crossing neara pedestrian bridge

25％

5Intersection(medium)

14％

While crossing at
a pedestriancrossing

4Intersection(small)No. of fatalities (people)

Others7％

3

Fig. 3. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by road configurationfor each time period (while crossing at locations other than a pedestrian crossing)Fig. 1. Number of fatalities from traffic accidents by situation for each age group

Number of vehicle to pedestrian
accidents in 2015
Fatalities among elderly
people = 1,036 people
Four-wheeled vehicle to pedestrian(passenger cars + trucks)
Fatality rate: 95.8%

2Time periods in which accidents occur (range)(Age group)

While crossing facing vehicle

1

Over 85

19.5m or wider

75-84

13.0m or wider

65-74

9.0m or wider

60-64

5.5m or wider

50-59

3.5m or wider

40-49

Municipal road

30-39

Uninterrupted road sections, 262 people (47%)

Prefectural road

25-29

Near intersections, 127 people (23%)

60

Driving a car
Upto 15 16-24

Non-signalized intersections, 140 people (25%)

Generalnational highway

0

Signalized intersections, 28 people (5%)

80

Less than 3.5m

200

100

No. of fatalities (people)

No. of fatalities (people)(Primary party + Secondary party)

Collision point

Road widthFig. 4. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by type of accident site(while crossing at locations other than a pedestrian crossing)

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

lSpeciafeatureAccidents involving elderly pedestrians while crossing the road
~ Confirming safety while crossing the road prevents collision accidents ~ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

Time periods and locations where fatal accidents involving

1 Introduction

2 elderly pedestrians while crossing the road frequently occur

Of the 4,117 fatalities from traffic accidents in 2015, 2,247 people were elderly people aged 65 or older, accountingfor 54.6% of the total. When this is converted to the number of fatalities per a population of 100,000 people, thenumber of 6.8 fatalities among elderly people is 3.4-times higher than the 2.0 among non-elderly people. Fig. 1
shows the number of fatalities by situation for each age group. It reveals that the number of fatalities of elderly
people of 1,048 accounts for roughly 71% of the total of 1,486 fatalities from traffic accidents while walking. Fig. 2
shows the fatality rate of elderly pedestrians by type of accident for accidents involving a vehicle, in which collisions
between a pedestrian and a four-wheeled vehicle account for 95.8% of the total of the 1,036 fatalities from vehicle
to pedestrian traffic accidents. The share of collisions with a four-wheeled vehicle while the pedestrian is crossing
at a location other than a pedestrian crossing comes to roughly 54%.
ITARDA Information1-2) has dealt with analyses of accidents involving elderly pedestrians in the past from a numberof different perspectives. But this time we will focus on fatal accidents from collisions with vehicles occurring whileelderly people cross the road at a location other than a pedestrian crossing, to take a look at the characteristics
unique to elderly pedestrians based on the accidents that occurred in 2015.

The graph on the front cover shows the number of fatalities from collision accidents with vehicles while elderly andnon-elderly people are crossing the road at locations other than pedestrian crossings by time periods. The numberof fatalities among elderly people vastly exceeds that from among non-elderly people at all times except between
22:00 - 5:00 at night. This reveals that fatal accidents occur in a concentrated manner in the early morning, the firsthalf of the morning, and for several hours at around sundown on into the evening, especially between 17:00 20:00. An analysis of accidents revealed that the number of fatal accidents from after sundown into the evening isroughly 2.8-times higher as an annual average, and that accidents occur with higher frequency on Mondays out of
the weekdays.
Now, at what sorts of locations do elderly pedestrians encounter accidents? Fig. 3 shows the number of fatalities
among elderly pedestrians by road configuration for each time period. This indicates that many fatal accidents
occur at non-signalized intersections, near intersections, and especially on uninterrupted road sections, at 47% of
the total. In addition, a graph that extracts out locations where fatal accidents frequently occur is shown in Fig. 4. In
heavily populated regions there tends to be a relatively higher number of fatal accidents on community roads suchas municipal roads, while in non-urban areas they tend to be higher on general national highways. Fatal accidents
frequently occur when the road being crossed is an uninterrupted road section where a general single lane in one
direction is about 5.5 - 9m wide at 42% of the total, or within intersections at about this same size at 22%.

520
291

＝1,048 people (71%)

237
OthersWalking(1,486 people)

600

Riding a bicycle
400

Riding a moped
Riding a motorcycle

40
20
0
0

1％

Others while
Elderly
crossing
pedestrians
Primary43％+ Secondary
N＝993
While crossing
near a pedestriancrossing

10％

54％

63

7

8

9

10

Fig. 2. Fatality rate among elderly pedestrians by type of accident

75

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

195
（42％）101
（22％）

80

200

60

Other
Within anintersection

150

40

Non-urban
areas

100

20

Urban areas - Other

50

Urban areas- Heavily populated

0

Route

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

6

Topography

Mixed traﬃc lane
Right-turn only lane
Outside of Lane 2
Lane 1
Undivided road0Intersection(large)While crossing neara pedestrian bridge

25％

5Intersection(medium)

14％

While crossing at
a pedestriancrossing

4Intersection(small)No. of fatalities (people)

Others7％

3

Fig. 3. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by road configurationfor each time period (while crossing at locations other than a pedestrian crossing)Fig. 1. Number of fatalities from traffic accidents by situation for each age group

Number of vehicle to pedestrian
accidents in 2015
Fatalities among elderly
people = 1,036 people
Four-wheeled vehicle to pedestrian(passenger cars + trucks)
Fatality rate: 95.8%

2Time periods in which accidents occur (range)(Age group)

While crossing facing vehicle

1

Over 85

19.5m or wider

75-84

13.0m or wider

65-74

9.0m or wider

60-64

5.5m or wider

50-59

3.5m or wider

40-49

Municipal road

30-39

Uninterrupted road sections, 262 people (47%)

Prefectural road

25-29

Near intersections, 127 people (23%)

60

Driving a car
Upto 15 16-24

Non-signalized intersections, 140 people (25%)

Generalnational highway

0

Signalized intersections, 28 people (5%)

80

Less than 3.5m

200

100

No. of fatalities (people)

No. of fatalities (people)(Primary party + Secondary party)

Collision point

Road widthFig. 4. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by type of accident site(while crossing at locations other than a pedestrian crossing)

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

Accidents involving elderly pedestrians while crossing the road
~ Confirming safety while crossing the road prevents collision accidents ~ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

Characteristics of fatal accidents involving

3 elderly pedestrians while crossing the road

■ Elderly pedestrians collide with vehicles traveling from the left while in the latter half ofcrossing the roadWhy do elderly pedestrians encounter accidents at these time periods and locations? The fatality rate is particularlyhigh on uninterrupted road sections without pedestrian crossings, including non-signalized intersections and nearintersections. When you focus in further on collision accidents with vehicles traveling straight on, theircharacteristics become apparent from the purpose and range of the elderly pedestrians’ actions, the characteristicsof their actions, and the factors that caused the accident.
■ Trip purposes of elderly pedestrians are diverse, but fatal accidents frequently occur within arange of 500m from their homes

Fig. 5 shows the number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by their trip purposes in each time period. Thisreveals that fatal accidents occur relatively frequently during time period a. while out walking; time period b. while
going to the hospital or shopping; and time period c. while shopping, going for a walk, visiting, or heading out to go
dining. In the period from 17:00 - 20:00 when accidents are particularly concentrated, shopping and visiting accountfor roughly half of the number of fatalities during each time period. Fig. 6 shows the trip purposes and the distancefrom their home to the site where they encountered an accident. The majority took place on roads they are used totraveling on as part of their daily lives within a range of 500m from their homes. The areas surrounding their homes
are dotted with numerous facilities like hospitals, convenience stores, department stores, and supermarkets. An
analysis of the areas where accidents frequently occur revealed that pedestrian accidents tend to occur with great
frequency particularly in locations where these are heavily concentrated and serve as a barrier between roads.

No. of fatalities (people)

100

Next, we will look at what sorts of instances elderly pedestrians encounter accidents when crossing the road bybreaking this down into uninterrupted road sections and intersections. Fig. 7 shows the number and rate of fatalities
versus the direction the pedestrian was moving while crossing the road, and the number of fatalities in the daytime
and the nighttime. Accidents involving collisions with vehicles traveling from the left in the latter half of crossing theroad account for 71.8% of the total. Of these, cases where they encountered accidents while crossing the road in astraight line stood out at 61.4%. Moreover, viewing the time period accidents occurred by daytime and nighttime
reveals that 82% of the accidents occurred at night. Similarly, Fig. 8 shows the movements of elderly pedestrians
within intersections. Accidents involving collisions with vehicles traveling from the left while the pedestrian is in thelatter half of the crossing were numerous at 66.3%, similar to with accidents at uninterrupted road sections.
Especially when viewed from the driver’s side, cases in which collisions with elderly pedestrians crossing from theright to the left on the other side of the intersection resulting in fatal accidents accounted for the most at 40.3% of
the total, with it learned that 73% of such accidents occurred at nighttime.
It is possible that these collision accidents could have been avoided if either the elderly pedestrian crossing theroad or the driver of the vehicle had acted by paying attention. Next we will look at why the accidents occurred andthe causes behind the accidents.
%2.5％（8 people）#24.7％（78 people）'1.0％（3 people）

Other

Shopping + Walking + Visiting + Dining

Wandering (due to illness)

80

Dining

Crossing at
an angle

Walking

60

Going to the hospital
Tourism / recreational travel

40

Visiting

20$8.5％（27 people）

Going to the hospital+ Shopping

Walking

Shopping

Crossing ina straight line
&1.9％

" 61.4％（194 people ） （6 people）

250

No. of fatalities (people)lSpeciafeatureNighttime

200
150
100
50
0

71.8％
1

2

3

4

5

a

6

82％

" # $ % & '00Daytime

7

8

9

b

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

c

19

20

21

22

Direction of travel

Fig. 7. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by directionof travel while crossing uninterrupted road sections

23

Time periods when accidents occur (range)$16.0％（19 people）

40

(1.7％
（2 people）

~500m
~100m

20

&2.5％
（3 people）~50m
Going tothe hospital

Tourism/ recreational
travelWandering(due to illness)

DiningVisiting

Walking0Distance from home to the accident site

Fig. 6. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by trip purpose and distancefrom home to the accident site

#21.8％（26 people）" 40.3％（48 people）

50

No. of fatalities (people)'1.7％（2 people）

~2km
~1km

Trip purpose

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118④16.0％（19 people）

More than 2km

Shopping

No. of fatalities (people)

Fig. 5. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by trip purpose for each time period

40
30Nighttime

Daytime

73％

20
10
0

" # $ % & ' (Direction of travel

66.3％

Fig. 8. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by directionof travel while crossing at intersections
ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

Accidents involving elderly pedestrians while crossing the road
~ Confirming safety while crossing the road prevents collision accidents ~ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

Characteristics of fatal accidents involving

3 elderly pedestrians while crossing the road

■ Elderly pedestrians collide with vehicles traveling from the left while in the latter half ofcrossing the roadWhy do elderly pedestrians encounter accidents at these time periods and locations? The fatality rate is particularlyhigh on uninterrupted road sections without pedestrian crossings, including non-signalized intersections and nearintersections. When you focus in further on collision accidents with vehicles traveling straight on, theircharacteristics become apparent from the purpose and range of the elderly pedestrians’ actions, the characteristicsof their actions, and the factors that caused the accident.
■ Trip purposes of elderly pedestrians are diverse, but fatal accidents frequently occur within arange of 500m from their homes

Fig. 5 shows the number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by their trip purposes in each time period. Thisreveals that fatal accidents occur relatively frequently during time period a. while out walking; time period b. while
going to the hospital or shopping; and time period c. while shopping, going for a walk, visiting, or heading out to go
dining. In the period from 17:00 - 20:00 when accidents are particularly concentrated, shopping and visiting accountfor roughly half of the number of fatalities during each time period. Fig. 6 shows the trip purposes and the distancefrom their home to the site where they encountered an accident. The majority took place on roads they are used totraveling on as part of their daily lives within a range of 500m from their homes. The areas surrounding their homes
are dotted with numerous facilities like hospitals, convenience stores, department stores, and supermarkets. An
analysis of the areas where accidents frequently occur revealed that pedestrian accidents tend to occur with great
frequency particularly in locations where these are heavily concentrated and serve as a barrier between roads.

No. of fatalities (people)

100

Next, we will look at what sorts of instances elderly pedestrians encounter accidents when crossing the road bybreaking this down into uninterrupted road sections and intersections. Fig. 7 shows the number and rate of fatalities
versus the direction the pedestrian was moving while crossing the road, and the number of fatalities in the daytime
and the nighttime. Accidents involving collisions with vehicles traveling from the left in the latter half of crossing theroad account for 71.8% of the total. Of these, cases where they encountered accidents while crossing the road in astraight line stood out at 61.4%. Moreover, viewing the time period accidents occurred by daytime and nighttime
reveals that 82% of the accidents occurred at night. Similarly, Fig. 8 shows the movements of elderly pedestrians
within intersections. Accidents involving collisions with vehicles traveling from the left while the pedestrian is in thelatter half of the crossing were numerous at 66.3%, similar to with accidents at uninterrupted road sections.
Especially when viewed from the driver’s side, cases in which collisions with elderly pedestrians crossing from theright to the left on the other side of the intersection resulting in fatal accidents accounted for the most at 40.3% of
the total, with it learned that 73% of such accidents occurred at nighttime.
It is possible that these collision accidents could have been avoided if either the elderly pedestrian crossing theroad or the driver of the vehicle had acted by paying attention. Next we will look at why the accidents occurred andthe causes behind the accidents.
%2.5％（8 people）#24.7％（78 people）'1.0％（3 people）

Other

Shopping + Walking + Visiting + Dining

Wandering (due to illness)

80

Dining

Crossing at
an angle

Walking

60

Going to the hospital
Tourism / recreational travel

40

Visiting

20$8.5％（27 people）

Going to the hospital+ Shopping

Walking

Shopping

Crossing ina straight line
&1.9％

" 61.4％（194 people ） （6 people）

250

No. of fatalities (people)lSpeciafeatureNighttime

200
150
100
50
0

71.8％
1

2

3

4

5

a

6

82％

" # $ % & '00Daytime

7

8

9

b

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

c

19

20

21

22

Direction of travel

Fig. 7. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by directionof travel while crossing uninterrupted road sections

23

Time periods when accidents occur (range)$16.0％（19 people）

40

(1.7％
（2 people）

~500m
~100m

20

&2.5％
（3 people）~50m
Going tothe hospital

Tourism/ recreational
travelWandering(due to illness)

DiningVisiting

Walking0Distance from home to the accident site

Fig. 6. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by trip purpose and distancefrom home to the accident site

#21.8％（26 people）" 40.3％（48 people）

50

No. of fatalities (people)'1.7％（2 people）

~2km
~1km

Trip purpose

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118④16.0％（19 people）

More than 2km

Shopping

No. of fatalities (people)

Fig. 5. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by trip purpose for each time period

40
30Nighttime

Daytime

73％

20
10
0

" # $ % & ' (Direction of travel

66.3％

Fig. 8. Number of fatalities among elderly pedestrians by directionof travel while crossing at intersections
ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

lSpeciafeatureAccidents involving elderly pedestrians while crossing the road
~ Confirming safety while crossing the road prevents collision accidents ~ITARDA INFORMATION no.118■ Legal violations by elderly pedestrians and human factors leading to accidents
The claim is made that traffic accidents while in motion are frequently caused by violations of traffic rules not only
by drivers, but also by pedestrians as well. So let’s take a look at what sorts of violations occur on both sides thatfrequently lead to fatal accidents.
Fig. 9 shows the number of fatalities among pedestrians due to a combination of legal violations by both elderly
pedestrians and vehicles. As for violations by pedestrians, it was revealed that in fact 78% of violations led to fatal
accidents, as evidenced by the fact that “Crossing directly in front / directly behind a moving vehicle” accounted forthe most at 42% of the total. Violations by the driver in such instances involved “Violations of mandatory safe
driving” in the form of failure to pay attention forward and failure to confirm safety factors in every case. In
particular, failure to pay attention forward for internal reasons, such as being lost in thought or aimless driving, orfor external reasons such as distracted driving or fooling around within the car, account for the majority of these.
Fig. 10 shows the number of fatalities among pedestrians when the human factors leading to accidents from bothsides are combined. A “Delay in noticing” approaching vehicles because the pedestrian either failed to confirm thesafety of their surroundings or did so inadequately prior to beginning to cross the road or while crossing accounted
for 51% of the total. Moreover, while the fatality rate is low at 12%, the fact that accidents occur due to “Errors injudgment” prior to starting to cross the road indicates that this is a human factor that warrants attention.
Conversely, the human factors on the vehicle side feature the same categories of legal violations, with thisrevealing that a failure to pay attention forward accounts for the majority of these.

Legal violations byelderly pedestrians

Crossing directly in front /directly behind a moving vehicle

42％
22％ (⇔ 78% violation occurred)

No violation
Crossing outside ofa pedestrian crossing

Legal violation by the vehicle driver

18％

Failure to pay attention forward (internal)

7％

Crossing at an angle
Crossing at a location wherecrossing is prohibited
Crossing immediately before /after a stopped / parked vehicle

Failure to pay attention forward (external)
Failure to conﬁrm safety factors

3％

Obstructing traﬃc (pedestrians)
Violation of mandatory safe driving in intersections

2％

Failure to observe surrounding traﬃc movement

7％

Other
0

Other

50

100

150

■ Characteristics of actions by elderly pedestrians while crossing the road
As has been described above, elderly pedestrians encounter collision accidents with vehicles traveling straight ahead
while they are crossing the road in particular time periods and locations, road environments, and when going out for
certain reasons. Now we will look at their actions on such occasions.
Fig. 11 shows the actions of elderly pedestrians when crossing uninterrupted road sections. It shows the time that elderly
pedestrians need to cross the road, the traveling distance of vehicles moving straight ahead at a speed of 50km/h fromthe left or right side of the road towards them, and the major series of actions taken by the pedestrians while crossing.
Despite the significant range of variance in the walking speeds of elderly people while crossing, a fact-finding survey3) oncrossing behavior shows that on average this is 1.27 m/s.
As shown in Fig. 11, when they maintain the same walking speed it takes them roughly eight seconds from when they
start crossing to go across a single one-way lane that is 9m wide, which is a road width where fatal accidents frequently
occur. When pedestrians cross the road, they take the following actions: " Cognition: See to their left and right sides if
there are any vehicles approaching and confirm this visually and audibly prior to crossing; # Decision: Estimate the speed
and distance of any approaching vehicles there may be and decide whether they can cross safely judging from the roadwidth; $ Action: Either cross or wait based on their decision. In the roughly eight seconds that pedestrians are crossingthese traffic conditions are constantly changing, so they must continuously repeat these three steps in an effort to ensurethat they can cross the road safely. However, it was learned that there is a tendency for them to neglect to confirm safety
factors even when they are cognizant of the fact that vehicles are approaching from both directions. For example, when
they turn their attention to a vehicle approaching from the right in the lane immediately in front of them they may forget
about the presence of a vehicle approaching from the left in the far lane.4) It is also frequently the case that elderly people
misjudge the speed or distance of vehicles due to declining eyesight and begin crossing, or that after they begin crossing
they only focus on the direction they are moving or what is directly underfoot, and continue walking without noticing theirsurroundings. It is also not uncommon for them to completely fail to notice nearby vehicles due to declining hearing acuity.
Noticing vehicles but being unable to cross the road in a hurry due to declining motor functions, or getting into fatal
accidents due to collisions with vehicles where the driver failed to pay attention forward could be deemed characteristicsof actions that are seen particularly frequently among elderly pedestrians. Together with the declining physical functions as
people age, they also unavoidably experience a decline in their cognitive functions for reading the changing traffic
conditions surrounding them, as well as their ability to make decisions by estimating the speed of and distance to vehicles.
In order to ensure safety while crossing the road, pedestrians must continuously go through the cycle from " → # → $→ " … and grasp the traffic conditions that are constantly changing from moment to moment. They must then reach adecision quickly based on the conditions on whether they should continue to cross or turn back, or whether they shouldstop and wait. Presumably, doing so should make it possible to avoid a considerable number of collision accidents.

200

Takes roughly eight seconds
to cross the roadNo. of fatalities (people)
Fig. 9. Number of pedestrian fatalities by type of legal violation
by elderly pedestrians and vehicle drivers

Human factors ofelderly pedestrians

Failure to adequately
conﬁrm safety factors

31％ Delay in noticing
51％

20％

Failure to conﬁrm safety factors

18％

No human factors

5％

Other errors in judgment

4％

Thought the vehicle would yield

12％

Paying particularattention⬅50km/h

1.5m

Failure to observe surrounding traﬃc movement

50

Average walking speed of elderly people: Roughly 1.27 m/s(this grows slower as people age)

Other

100

Fig. 10. Number of pedestrian fatalities by human factorof elderly pedestrians and vehicle drivers

9m(Will advance 56m overfour seconds)

Failure to conﬁrm safety factors (no conﬁrmation)

No. of fatalities (people)

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

Is aware of the vehicle,
but when their attention is devoted to the vehicle comingfrom the right they forget to pay attention elsewhere

Failure to pay attention forward (external)
Failure to conﬁrm safety factors(inadequate conﬁrmation)

Misjudgment

19％
050km/h➡

Will reach the center of the roadin roughly four seconds

Continues to cross without
conﬁrming the safety on
either side while crossing

Failure to pay attention forward (internal)

Other(Will advance 112m over eight seconds)

Human factors of vehicle drivers

3％

Misjudged the vehicleʼs speed

1.5m" Cognition：Is there a vehicle, position (near / far lane), number of vehicles

150

200

Actions for crossing the road

Decide whether or not to cross based on vehicle speed, distance between vehicles,# Decision： and the width of the road being crossed$ Action：Cross, stop crossing, go backFig. 11. Characteristics of actions taken by elderly pedestrians
when crossing uninterrupted road sections
ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

lSpeciafeatureAccidents involving elderly pedestrians while crossing the road
~ Confirming safety while crossing the road prevents collision accidents ~ITARDA INFORMATION no.118■ Legal violations by elderly pedestrians and human factors leading to accidents
The claim is made that traffic accidents while in motion are frequently caused by violations of traffic rules not only
by drivers, but also by pedestrians as well. So let’s take a look at what sorts of violations occur on both sides thatfrequently lead to fatal accidents.
Fig. 9 shows the number of fatalities among pedestrians due to a combination of legal violations by both elderly
pedestrians and vehicles. As for violations by pedestrians, it was revealed that in fact 78% of violations led to fatal
accidents, as evidenced by the fact that “Crossing directly in front / directly behind a moving vehicle” accounted forthe most at 42% of the total. Violations by the driver in such instances involved “Violations of mandatory safe
driving” in the form of failure to pay attention forward and failure to confirm safety factors in every case. In
particular, failure to pay attention forward for internal reasons, such as being lost in thought or aimless driving, orfor external reasons such as distracted driving or fooling around within the car, account for the majority of these.
Fig. 10 shows the number of fatalities among pedestrians when the human factors leading to accidents from bothsides are combined. A “Delay in noticing” approaching vehicles because the pedestrian either failed to confirm thesafety of their surroundings or did so inadequately prior to beginning to cross the road or while crossing accounted
for 51% of the total. Moreover, while the fatality rate is low at 12%, the fact that accidents occur due to “Errors injudgment” prior to starting to cross the road indicates that this is a human factor that warrants attention.
Conversely, the human factors on the vehicle side feature the same categories of legal violations, with thisrevealing that a failure to pay attention forward accounts for the majority of these.

Legal violations byelderly pedestrians

Crossing directly in front /directly behind a moving vehicle

42％
22％ (⇔ 78% violation occurred)

No violation
Crossing outside ofa pedestrian crossing

Legal violation by the vehicle driver

18％

Failure to pay attention forward (internal)

7％

Crossing at an angle
Crossing at a location wherecrossing is prohibited
Crossing immediately before /after a stopped / parked vehicle

Failure to pay attention forward (external)
Failure to conﬁrm safety factors

3％

Obstructing traﬃc (pedestrians)
Violation of mandatory safe driving in intersections

2％

Failure to observe surrounding traﬃc movement

7％

Other
0

Other

50

100

150

■ Characteristics of actions by elderly pedestrians while crossing the road
As has been described above, elderly pedestrians encounter collision accidents with vehicles traveling straight ahead
while they are crossing the road in particular time periods and locations, road environments, and when going out for
certain reasons. Now we will look at their actions on such occasions.
Fig. 11 shows the actions of elderly pedestrians when crossing uninterrupted road sections. It shows the time that elderly
pedestrians need to cross the road, the traveling distance of vehicles moving straight ahead at a speed of 50km/h fromthe left or right side of the road towards them, and the major series of actions taken by the pedestrians while crossing.
Despite the significant range of variance in the walking speeds of elderly people while crossing, a fact-finding survey3) oncrossing behavior shows that on average this is 1.27 m/s.
As shown in Fig. 11, when they maintain the same walking speed it takes them roughly eight seconds from when they
start crossing to go across a single one-way lane that is 9m wide, which is a road width where fatal accidents frequently
occur. When pedestrians cross the road, they take the following actions: " Cognition: See to their left and right sides if
there are any vehicles approaching and confirm this visually and audibly prior to crossing; # Decision: Estimate the speed
and distance of any approaching vehicles there may be and decide whether they can cross safely judging from the roadwidth; $ Action: Either cross or wait based on their decision. In the roughly eight seconds that pedestrians are crossingthese traffic conditions are constantly changing, so they must continuously repeat these three steps in an effort to ensurethat they can cross the road safely. However, it was learned that there is a tendency for them to neglect to confirm safety
factors even when they are cognizant of the fact that vehicles are approaching from both directions. For example, when
they turn their attention to a vehicle approaching from the right in the lane immediately in front of them they may forget
about the presence of a vehicle approaching from the left in the far lane.4) It is also frequently the case that elderly people
misjudge the speed or distance of vehicles due to declining eyesight and begin crossing, or that after they begin crossing
they only focus on the direction they are moving or what is directly underfoot, and continue walking without noticing theirsurroundings. It is also not uncommon for them to completely fail to notice nearby vehicles due to declining hearing acuity.
Noticing vehicles but being unable to cross the road in a hurry due to declining motor functions, or getting into fatal
accidents due to collisions with vehicles where the driver failed to pay attention forward could be deemed characteristicsof actions that are seen particularly frequently among elderly pedestrians. Together with the declining physical functions as
people age, they also unavoidably experience a decline in their cognitive functions for reading the changing traffic
conditions surrounding them, as well as their ability to make decisions by estimating the speed of and distance to vehicles.
In order to ensure safety while crossing the road, pedestrians must continuously go through the cycle from " → # → $→ " … and grasp the traffic conditions that are constantly changing from moment to moment. They must then reach adecision quickly based on the conditions on whether they should continue to cross or turn back, or whether they shouldstop and wait. Presumably, doing so should make it possible to avoid a considerable number of collision accidents.

200

Takes roughly eight seconds
to cross the roadNo. of fatalities (people)
Fig. 9. Number of pedestrian fatalities by type of legal violation
by elderly pedestrians and vehicle drivers

Human factors ofelderly pedestrians

Failure to adequately
conﬁrm safety factors

31％ Delay in noticing
51％

20％

Failure to conﬁrm safety factors

18％

No human factors

5％

Other errors in judgment

4％

Thought the vehicle would yield

12％

Paying particularattention⬅50km/h

1.5m

Failure to observe surrounding traﬃc movement

50

Average walking speed of elderly people: Roughly 1.27 m/s(this grows slower as people age)

Other

100

Fig. 10. Number of pedestrian fatalities by human factorof elderly pedestrians and vehicle drivers

9m(Will advance 56m overfour seconds)

Failure to conﬁrm safety factors (no conﬁrmation)

No. of fatalities (people)

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

Is aware of the vehicle,
but when their attention is devoted to the vehicle comingfrom the right they forget to pay attention elsewhere

Failure to pay attention forward (external)
Failure to conﬁrm safety factors(inadequate conﬁrmation)

Misjudgment

19％
050km/h➡

Will reach the center of the roadin roughly four seconds

Continues to cross without
conﬁrming the safety on
either side while crossing

Failure to pay attention forward (internal)

Other(Will advance 112m over eight seconds)

Human factors of vehicle drivers

3％

Misjudged the vehicleʼs speed

1.5m" Cognition：Is there a vehicle, position (near / far lane), number of vehicles

150

200

Actions for crossing the road

Decide whether or not to cross based on vehicle speed, distance between vehicles,# Decision： and the width of the road being crossed$ Action：Cross, stop crossing, go backFig. 11. Characteristics of actions taken by elderly pedestrians
when crossing uninterrupted road sections
ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

イタルダインフォメーションに関するお問い合せ先

渉外事業課

TEL 03-5577-3973

FAX 03-5577-3980

公益財団法人 交通事故総合分析センター●ウェブサイト http://www.itarda.or.jp/ ●Eメール koho@itarda.or.jp●フェイスブック https://www.facebook.com/itarda.or
本部〒101-0064 東京都千代田区猿楽町2-7-8 住友水道橋ビル8階
TEL 03-5577-3977(代表) FAX 03-5577-3980

ITARDA INFORMATION no.118

つくば 交通事故調査事務所

2810

住 友 水 道 橋 ビル８ 階

Reference material
1) ITARDA Information No. 87: “Nighttime fatal accidents involving senior pedestrians,” February 2011
2) ITARDA Information No. 83: “Accidents between vehicles and pedestrians,” May 2010
3) Michiaki Sekine, Yasuhiro Matsui, et. al., “Basic survey on traﬃc characteristics and road crossing times by elderly
people for preventing pedestrian traﬃc accidents,” overview of a lecture at the National Traﬃc Safety
and Environment Laboratory Forum, PP38-42, 2012
4) Kazutaka Mitobe, Fourth Traﬃc Safety Education Using Simulators, People and Cars, P30-31, Jan. 2016

~ Conﬁrming safety while crossing the road prevents collision accidents ~01

DaytimeElderly people
Non-elderly people

Dec.

Oct.

Nov.

Jul.

Sept.

40

Aug.

Jun.

0

Apr.

20

May

60

Fatal accidents are concentrated
among the elderly(37% of the total)

40

Mar.

80

Nighttime

60

Jan.

100

80

Feb.

No.118

公益財団法人 交通事故総合分析センター〒101 0064 東 京 都 千 代 田 区 猿 楽 町 ２ ７ ８(Hiromu Shibasaki)

Accidents involving elderly pedestrians
while crossing the roadlSpeciafeature120■ Precautions to be heeded by vehicle drivers
・Drivers should turn on their headlights early before the sun goes down in order to make elderly pedestrians
aware of the vehicle’s presence.
・Many elderly pedestrians think that vehicles will yield the road to them. Drivers who detect such a pedestrian
standing on the sidewalk or road shoulder should consider that they may cross, be cautious of theirsurroundings, and drive while being prepared for all eventualities.
・They should pay due attention to pedestrians standing on the sidewalks or road shoulders of oncoming traffic
lanes, or those crossing over oncoming traffic lanes. Especially at nighttime, they should frequently switch theirheadlights between high beam and low beam in an effort to detect pedestrians sooner.
・When drivers relax their attention and drive aimlessly because they are on a road they are familiar with driving,or when their caution declines significantly because they are lost in thought, it delays them in detecting that
there are pedestrians crossing the road. They should take the wheel with the awareness that there are all themore latent dangers when they are on roads they are familiar with.
・They must consider that elderly pedestrians may cross despite the fact that there are vehicles driving towards
them in locations where facilities like hospitals, convenience stores, shopping centers, and family restaurants
are concentrated, especially locations where they are lined up facing one another. Rather than thinking that
there’s definitely no way that a pedestrian would start crossing right in front of them, they must drive cautiously,
especially in the several hours immediately after the sun sets.
・Paragraph 2-2, Article 71 of the Road Traffic Act clearly states that drivers must come to a temporary stop or
slow down so as not to hinder the passage of elderly pedestrians who may have moving disabilities. As such, itmandates that drivers must protect elderly pedestrians.

交通事故分析レポート No.118

No. of fatalities among
elderly pedestrians (people)

・ Elderly pedestrians should be aware of their own declining physical functions and refrain from crossing whenit’s unsafe to do so. When they detect a vehicle far in the distance they should wait it out rather than crossing.
・ They should refrain from crossing at an angle, which takes longer to cross the road, and cross the road in astraight line.
・ They should confirm safety factors from either side without just looking at what is ahead of them and underfoot
when walking across the road. Particularly when they are in the latter half of the crossing, they must look attheir left side to confirm any changes in the traffic conditions, and stop crossing if they get the slightest
impression that it’s dangerous.
・ The majority of accidents occur at nighttime. As such, while it wasn’t mentioned in this report, elderly
pedestrians should make efforts to protect themselves by devising ways so that they can be detected rightaway by the drivers of vehicles. This includes by wearing clothing with colors that are highly visible, or that havereflective materials that reflect car lights attached to them.
・ Even if a person is familiar with normally walking through a place, or have not been put in danger, traffic
conditions are constantly changing. This familiarity and mental carelessness is what leads to a great many
tragic accidents. The more familiar a person is with a place the more they must soundly confirm the safety
factors while maintaining a sense of wariness.

ITARDA INFORMATION

No. of fatalities (people)■ Precautions to be heeded by elderly pedestrians

ITARDA INFORMATION

Based on the characteristics of fatal accidents involving elderly pedestrians while crossing the road,we would like to mention precautions that should be heeded by both pedestrians and drivers.

交通事故分析レポート

4 Conclusion

イタルダ インフォメーション

20
0

2

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4

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7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19Time periods in which accidents occur (range)

20

21

22

23

Accident type: Vehicle to pedestrian, Primary party + Secondary party while crossing the road outside of a pedestrian crossing

Number of pedestrian fatalities while crossing the road (2015)

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