Young people,transport and risk: comparing access and independent mobility in urban,suburban and rural environments

Abstract

A sample of 349 young people, aged 13 or 14, in three locations in the English Midlands participated in this study, which examines how young people perceive and handle risk in relation to travel and locality. The findings, drawn from survey and focus-group research, highlight differences between the three locations in terms of young people's perceptions of levels of safety, access, traffic danger and noise. In the high-density (urban) area, young people were less likely to travel unaccompanied even in their local areas, whereas in sub urban and rural areas, lone travel, even after dark, was more common. In all locations, young people gave rich accounts of managing risk and responding to parental concerns about safety, through evasion and collusion with peers. They had many ideas to make local environments safer, but thought that their voices remained unheard by policy makers and other adults.