ABSTRACT
It is a simple fact that road users vary in the extent to which they can inflict and receive injury during collisions. Truck and bus drivers, for example, have the ability to inflict a lot of harm on others whilst at the same time being relatively invulnerable to the effects of an impact themselves. Groups at the other end of this distribution, whose transport modes afford them far more opportunities to be hurt than to hurt others, are often referred to as ‘vulnerable’ road users. This category is usually said to consist of pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists, although some authorities (notably the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport) have also categorized children as a separate vulnerable group.
