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Mobility & Transport - Road Safety

In most European countries, the number of older people has increased over the last decades. This increase will intensify in the next 25 years. Currently, 15% of the European population is aged 65 years or above, and 7.5% is aged 75 years and above. These percentages will increase up to 25% and 15% respectively in 2030 (US Census Bureau).

The percentage of people having difficulties in traffic due to functional limitations is clearly larger among the older group (75 and above) than among the younger group (65-74 years). This not only applies to older pedestrians and cyclists, but also to older drivers. Because the group of older people is getting increasingly larger, it is important for road safety policy to pay more attention to the possibilities and limitations of this group of road users.