The other day I was driving through a busy parking lot. I noticed an elderly man who parked his car,
got out, and proceeded to walk through the parking lot without ever surveying
his surroundings. He did not see my
vehicle approaching him, and did not appear to notice the other cars that had
to stop to let him pass. The other
drivers looked both annoyed and perplexed that he could be so clueless.
According to the
CDC “Increasing frailty may leave the elderly more vulnerable to being hit by
traffic. Age-linked declines in mental function, vision and physical
disabilities might place older adult pedestrians at greater risk for being
struck by a vehicle." (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_136049.html).
With this man,
what I noticed was quite telling. He was
looking at his feet. Many seniors do
this when walking. Why? Because they are afraid to fall. With a decline in physical ability comes
problems negotiating uneven terrain. Parking
lots and sidewalks are full of holes, stones, and cracks that could be
problematic for someone with declining mobility. So, they stare at the ground to avoid
falling, the entire time being unable to also look around at other risks in the
environment. And when you combine this
with reduced peripheral vision, they may not notice vehicles approaching.
Society expects
seniors to “know better” in that they have been trained, over a lifetime, about
the perils of traffic. With children, we
don’t expect them to know better because they are carefree and often move
before thinking. As driver’s we watch
for children and take extra care when we see them around roads or in parking
lots. We also tend to take the same
precautions when we notice someone who is more visibly disabled using a
wheelchair, or white cane. But
disabilities are not always visible and we have to be careful to not make
assumptions – especially with seniors who may have an unnoticeable visual,
cognitive, physical or auditory problem.
My message here
is that drivers should be cautious with all pedestrians, but need to be
especially mindful of seniors – much like they are with children or other
people with visible disabilities. Seniors
deserve our patience and the extra time it might take to help them safely go
about their day and negotiate the sometimes challenging outdoor
environment.
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