Reasons for Exclusion: Attitudes to Pedestrian Safety in New Zealand ( breakout presentation )

Abstract

Although the safe system approach to road safety recognises that people make mistakes and are vulnerable, and the basic requirements for providing for walking are generally understood, safety for pedestrians is not approached in this manner. Police pedestrian crash reports cite pedestrian behaviour as the cause of pedestrians being injured or killed. Accident codes such as “crossing”, "crossing heedless of traffic" or “pedestrian wearing dark clothing” reinforce a perception of the pedestrian as being in the wrong for entering the road. The systemic changes in the design of safe and forgiving road environments for motorists and cyclists, and the specific emphasis on speed management policies, are not being matched for pedestrian safety. In fact, some well-intentioned policy initiatives reduce the perceived safety of walking to the point where walking is abandoned by the most vulnerable pedestrians. This paper considers the effects of habits of thought, institutional structure, process inflexibility and homogeneity of decision-makers on providing for the needs of walkers. The treatment of pedestrian risk, deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads and paths is compared to that of cyclist risk, deaths and serious injuries. The paper probes the difficulties in meeting the needs of walking in the absence of any type of national walking strategy, or team or budget. It notes how inappropriate approaches to pedestrian safety can effectively normalise social exclusion and isolation of groups with mobility disability. These are the often invisible barriers to meeting society’s demands and needs for walking, and to politicians’ attempts to deliver change.