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Year:
2013

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Volume:
17

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Issue:
2

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Article:
5
Safety Science Monitor
Introduction

Injury prevention programs aimed at reducing injuries caused by road traffic incidents have been a public health priority for many years. In Sweden, the Swedish Transport Administration (STA) (former Swedish Road Administration, SRA) and local municipalities have worked for decades towards reducing fatal and serious injuries among pedestrians and bicyclists by separating the vulnerable road users from motorised traffic. Special pedestrian and bicycle paths have been built alongside roads and streets in urban areas, and these paths are even common in rural areas nowadays. Pedestrians often have the perception that it is dangerous to walk in the same lane as is used by bicyclists, and bicyclists may consider pedestrians to constitute a hindrance to their use of shared paths. However, from the pedestrian’s point of view, the problem is more one of their sense of security, than a genuine risk of injury (Gibrand et al., 2009; Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions & Swedish Transport Administration, 2010). The number of injured pedestrians treated in hospital who slipped or tripped in a traffic environment are many more than those who were hit by a bicycle or moped (Björnstig & Issue 2 2013 Björnstig, 2000; Bylund et al., 2011). In a study by Rolfsman et al. (2012) it was shown that bicyclists reported environmental and human factors as contributing to bicycle crashes. It was discussed how it is necessary to implement specific adaptations of traffic safety countermeasures directed towards various groups, such as bicyclists and pedestrians.

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Author

PER-OLOF BYLUND

Department of Surgery and Perioperative Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

EWA ROLFSMAN

Department of Applied Educational Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

BRITT-INGER SAVEMAN

Department of Nursing, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.

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