An ethnographic study into mobility precepts of vulnerable road users

Pedestrians and cyclists are important stake-holders in a sustainable transport system whereas elderly and visually handicapped are related to the global ageing population issue. This paper examines the views espoused by respondents of different age on mobility precepts (notions of road usage) of four subject groups of vulnerable road users - pedestrian, cyclist, elderly (pedestrian), visually handicapped (pedestrian). An ethnographic study using a free association survey entailing an open-ended free listing technique was conducted on 259 ambulant respondents categorised (by age bands) into the Teenagers (15-25 years old), Middle-Aged (26-49 years old) and Pre-Elderly (50-64 years old). The respondents’ views on mobility precepts of the four vulnerable road user groups are compared across the three age bands. “Crossing issue” as related to “pedestrian” is mentioned most frequently by all three respondent groups. “Dangerous” and “fast” are often associated with “cyclist’. The items associated with “elderly” and “visually handicapped” are rather similar, as centred on “slow reaction”, “weak” and “requires help”. These findings provide additional perspectives which have implications on appropriate types of interventions/strategies towards improving road usage experiences among vulnerable road users.