Like many of Stonnington’s older residents, Marcelo Arditte loves walking.
Aged in his 80s, walking helps to keep Marcelo healthy and connected to others in his community.
“I walk in the mornings, very early, because it is peaceful and quiet. From my place to the Yarra. I walk about 5km.”
On most days Marcelo also walks to the Grattan Gardens Community Centre. He likes chatting to the staff there.
Walking is also Marcelo’s main form of transport these days. He stopped driving a car when his wife died 10 years ago.
“I didn’t need to drive anymore,” he says. I am close to transport, shops, the market, doctors and even a hospital,” he says. “Everything I need is within four or five blocks.”
But Marcelo says that some people in Stonnington drive too fast.
He sometimes stays on a tram instead of getting off at his stop if he sees a driver coming too fast.
In Stonnington and across Victoria, walkers aged 65 and over are more likely to be fatally or seriously injured on our roads.
Marcelo says he understands why older walkers can be more vulnerable.
“Their reactions get slower. Their eyesight is failing… Older people can’t walk as fast, so if a car is coming, they can’t get out of the way.”
He says it makes sense that Stonnington Council introduced 40km/h speed limits to Prahran’s local streets in recent years as part of its road safety strategy.
It means there is enough time for people who walk more slowly to cross the streets and for drivers to see them.
Adult walkers who are struck by a driver travelling at 40km/h or less have a much higher chance of survival than someone who is hit by a driver traveling at 50km/h.
“If drivers are coming more slowly of course it feels safer,” says Marcelo. “The driver will be able to stop… [There is] more time to react.”
As well as safer speed limits, Stonnington is investing in traffic-calming infrastructure such as speed humps and raised pedestrian crossings in busy areas.
Raised crossings can reduce tripping hazards for older or vision-impaired walkers, as well as making all people who walk more visible to drivers.
Marcelo says he hopes to continue walking around Stonnington for many years to come.
He says it is his secret to staying young!
To learn more and get involved in helping us to create Safer Stonnington Streets, visit the Road Safety Improvement page on our Connect Stonnington website.