Skip to Content
All Campaigns

Older pedestrians

Pedestrians safety campaign by the Road Safety Authority. 

Road safety campaign aimed at making motorists aware of older pedestrians to help reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries among this age group.

older-pedestrian-safety-campaign

Pedestrian safety 

Making drivers more aware of older pedestrians. 

Our older pedestrians campaign is aimed at making motorists aware of older pedestrians to help reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries among this age group. 

pedestrian-walking

In the campaign, we see an active, older lady as she goes for a walk. As she walks her subtle interactions with other road users are represented by bold graphics which translate her gestures. We follow her through the town and see her conversation with other road users unfold.  

As she crosses the road, she scans left to right and spots a car coming towards her on the other lane. We cut to the driver as he approaches the crossing. He hasn’t seen her - his eyes fixed forward lost in thought. For a tense moment, we fear the worst. A voiceover says “Too many older pedestrians are being killed on our roads.” 

The driver looks towards her and suddenly sees the older pedestrian. He slows his car safely and raises a finger in acknowledgement. The older pedestrian smiles and safely crosses the road as the voiceover continues “When we look out for each other, we keep each other safe.” “Please look out for older pedestrians on the road.”   

The campaign is sound tracked by ‘Look at Grandma’ – a rerecording of an upbeat Bo Diddley song, whose chorus underpins our message to look out for older pedestrians. 

Facts  

Our research (2016-2020): 

  • Census data (2016) reported that 13% of Ireland’s population is aged 65 and above. 31% of pedestrian fatalities (2016-2020*) are aged 65 and older, demonstrating that older people are significantly over-represented in pedestrian deaths in Ireland. The majority of fatalities were female (65%).  

* Data from 2018-2020 are provisional and subject to change 

Our collision data shows that: 

  • The majority of fatal collisions involving these older pedestrians occurred on urban roads.  
  • Drivers involved in collisions were predominantly male (70%) and under 45 years of age (60%). 
  • Drivers were most likely to be driving for a work-related purpose.
  • The common action on the part of both the older pedestrian and driver in such collisions is a failure to observe. 

Older pedestrians 

Our TV and radio campaign illustrates how drivers need to be aware of older pedestrians at all times. 

Older pedestrian radio advert RSA Coisithe Aosta