Vulnerable Road Users in Ontario

Author(s): Di Felice

Slidedeck Presentation:

Slide deck link

Abstract:

Context/Background:

Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) are often identified as road users who are most at risk of being seriously injured or killed when they are involved in a motor-vehicle-related collision. VRU include pedestrians, cyclists, mobility device users and motorcyclists. Concern over their safety is not a new issue and there have been several campaigns, initiatives and awareness efforts in the past to advocate for their safety.

In 2020, CAA Club Group adopted a new vulnerable road user (VRU) strategy in response to the increase of people walking and cycling due to the pandemic. Part of this strategy includes surveying the public to measure their understanding of this term, the issues facing VRU, and areas of focus we need to address. Our future campaigns and positions will also be informed by this research data. Through this survey we hoped to:

Learn/Understand
The public’s perceptions of emerging or ongoing issues on VRU safety.
The public’s awareness of VRU safety issues, laws and how CAA can advocate on this topic.

Accomplish
A set of recommendations for future initiatives and create a baseline data set on this topic.

Objectives/Aims:

- Determine the understanding that the public has of the term Vulnerable Road User, their awareness of VRU safety issues, laws expectations on how CAA can advocate on their behalf on this topic.

- Determine the issues facing VRU’s, and areas of focus that need to be addressed.

- Understand the public’s perceptions of emerging or ongoing issues on VRU.

Target Group/Methods:

1,500 Ontarians aged 18 to 75 were surveyed from May 31st to June 7th, 2021.

Activity(ies)/Results:

COVID-19 has impacted Ontarians’ behaviour and, in some cases, prompted less driving and more walking. The survey found that some people took advantage of temporary road closures and left their car behind to participate in cycling or walking. However, many Ontarians expect to go back to their pre-COVID-19 behaviour once the pandemic is behind us. The COVID-19 driven uptick in physical activity such as walking, and cycling is expected to be the same post-pandemic. Thus, the safety of VRU should be a priority to address the increase in traffic that will occur once the pandemic ends. Ontarians indicate distracted driving as the biggest safety concern for VRU. Lastly, there is an opportunity for program improvement as many Ontarians are not aware of the current programs and are skeptical of their impact (i.e. Vision Zero).

Deliverables/Discussion:

The results have been used to shape our VRU safety efforts and guide advocacy discussions. We learned that the pandemic has had an impact on how people move around, but that more needs to be done to maintain this behaviour change. There is also a concern that once people return to daily car commutes, they may encounter more vru (people walking or cycling for leisure) or infrastructure to encourage walking & cycling that they are not used to.

Conclusions:

All traffic participants play a role in VRU safety, but driving is considered to come with higher responsibility. There is also no one measure that can improve VRU safety, but a mix of enforcement, infrastructure and education can help. A white paper of the results can be shared if you have any additional questions or would like to see more detailed results.