Victoria Walks executive officer Ben Rossiter says the emphasis is on making roads safer for car drivers, not people on the street. "What is happening to senior pedestrians is absolutely atrocious," he says. Credit:Eddie Jim Mr Geitenbeek's story is an increasingly common one on our streets. The road system has turned into a battleground for older pedestrians, with the emerging crisis poised to worsen with the ageing of the population. The latest figures from the TAC show there have been 18 pedestrian deaths this calendar year. Drill down into the figures and an alarming situation for older Victorians becomes apparent — about one third of the deaths involve people over 70, despite them making up only about a tenth of the population. "Let's not mince words, what is happening to senior pedestrians is absolutely atrocious," said Dr Ben Rossiter, head of Victoria Walks, the VicHealth-funded group which advocates for pedestrians. TAC research showed that when senior pedestrians were injured in crashes, they were at fault only 12 per cent of the time, he said. "There's an urban myth that seniors are a danger to themselves, but the evidence shows the vast majority of crashes are caused by driver error."

At some intersections, pedestrians are not being given enough time to cross. They include the crossing between Flinders Street Station and Federation Square, where pedestrians get about 26 seconds. Credit:Eddie Jim Dr Rossiter said the emphasis was on making the roads safer for people in cars, but not people on the street. "Governments say they are planning for the ageing population, but they are totally unprepared for the massive number of older people who will be out walking," he said. "Unless this issue is taken seriously, senior pedestrian deaths and serious injury rates are going to increase. "We hear a lot about getting seniors to give up their driver licences, but that's simply not going to happen until we make our communities safer and better for walking." Dr Rossiter also called for tougher penalties for drivers who kill or injure people who are walking.

"Older people are dying because we have created unsafe road networks and drivers either don't understand the road rules or don't care about them," he said. "There have to be real consequences for drivers who kill and injure people who are walking, not a slap on the wrist. Crashes seem to be palmed off as an unfortunate accident, particularly where seniors are concerned." Officials often urged older people to use crossings, but Dr Rossiter argued that with less than 1 per cent of intersections having crossings, it was the equivalent of saying: don't walk. And at some crossings, pedestrians were not being given enough time to cross. According to Victoria Walks, an example is the crossing between Flinders Street Station and Federation Square just before Princes Bridge. Dr Rossiter said the period from when the green crossing signal starts until cars get a green light is only about 26 seconds, when it should be at least 30 seconds.

Slater and Gordon's Stuart Le Grand, who represented Mr Geitenbeek, said his firm was seeing an increase in inquiries regarding pedestrian accidents, particularly involving older pedestrians. "We're encouraging our elderly to get up and about and stay active," he says. "What can be one of their ordinary routines of a walk can end up in this sort of tragedy." Mr Le Grand is concerned about driver distraction from smart technology in vehicles, such as satellite navigation systems or illegally talking and texting on phones. "Once a senior citizen is hit, they stay hit." The TAC has funded work in Reservoir to improve the safety of older pedestrians as part of a trial that could be replicated in other suburbs. The Broadway shopping strip will get a reduced 40 km/h speed limit during certain busy times, kerb extensions, replacement footpaths and raised pedestrian crossings.

The TAC has also funded Victoria Walks to produce guidelines on how to design safer streets for seniors. Liz Waller, the TAC's major projects manager, road safety, said speed limit reductions to 40 km/h was one of the best ways to protect older, more vulnerable pedestrians. "Cars then have time to stop and avoid a collision. You actually increase the protection around that person." The consequences of an accident for older pedestrians were more pronounced, she said. "The issue is that they are frail. When something goes wrong, it's really hard to recover." Ms Waller said protecting older pedestrians was part of the TAC's "safe system" for road safety, which acknowledges that while people make mistakes, no one should be killed or seriously injured on the roads. And that included the idea of shared responsibility by users of the system.

"We want to let the community know that everyone has a role in this," she said. Remarkably, three weeks after getting out of hospital, Mr Geitenbeek was crossing at the same intersection when he was almost hit in identical circumstances. Undeterred, he still walks regularly, but has a new alertness about him. "First of all, check the flow of traffic. And wait, take your time and make sure that the road is really clear."