Hidden Harm: Walking Injuries in Auckland

While much interest in pedestrian deaths and serious injuries focuses on incidents involving a motor vehicle (typically as reported and monitored in CAS, the Crash Analysis System), there is less understanding of the relative incidence of other serious pedestrian injuries, either caused by slips or trips on roads and paths, or collisions with other users such as cyclists and scooters.

A recent study in Auckland looked at CAS and Ministry of Health hospitalisation data and found a large number of non-motor vehicle serious incidents involving people walking (mostly falls); typically about 500 a year in Auckland compared with slightly more than 200 a year involving another vehicle (less than half of which are captured in CAS). This has profound implications for investment in good path and crossing standards and maintenance to reduce this burden.

This poster presentation (presented at the 2021 Transport Knowledge Conference) summarises the findings, some of the main risk factors identified, and key sector recommendations. The poster can be found here.