we see a lot of anecdotal evidence of accidents etc yet we see very little empirical evidence and research based articles on cycle safety. It would be nice to see pressure on state institutions to conduct more research on cycle safety. As there are growing nos of cyclist and large revenues spent on cycling and taxes collected on cycling sales, then cycling organisations and civic authorities should look more into esearch in the area. so stop moaning and start the ball rolling...here my little bit Login REF: Select The influence of a bicycle commuter's appearance on drivers’ overtaking proximities : an on-road test of bicyclist stereotypes, high-visibility clothing and safety aids in the United Kingdom Reference: Walker, I., Garrard, I. and Jowitt, F., 2014. The influence of a bicycle commuter's appearance on drivers’ overtaking proximities : an on-road test of bicyclist stereotypes, high-visibility clothing and safety aids in the United Kingdom. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 64, pp. 69-77. Related documents: PDF (author's accepted version) - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Download (1564kB) | Preview Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.11.007 Abstract This study looked at whether drivers overtaking a bicyclist changed the proximities of their passes in response to the level of experience and skill signalled by the bicyclist's appearance. Five outfits were tested, ranging from a stereotypical sport rider's outfit, portraying high experience and skill, to a vest with ‘novice cyclist’ printed on the back, portraying low experience. A high-visibility bicycling jacket was also used, as were two commercially available safety vests, one featuring a prominent mention of the word ‘police’ and a warning that the rider was video-recording their journey, and one modelled after a police officer's jacket but with a letter changed so it read ‘POLITE’. An ultrasonic distance sensor recorded the space left by vehicles passing the bicyclist on a regular commuting route. 5690 data points fulfilled the criteria for the study and were included in the analyses. The only outfit associated with a significant change in mean passing proximities was the police/video-recording jacket. Contrary to predictions, drivers treated the sports outfit and the ‘novice cyclist’ outfit equivalently, suggesting they do not adjust overtaking proximity as a function of a rider's perceived experience. Notably, whilst some outfits seemed to discourage motorists from passing within 1 metre of the rider, approximately 1-2% of overtakes came within 50 cm no matter what outfit was worn. This suggests there is little riders can do, by altering their appearance, to prevent the very closest overtakes; it is suggested that infrastructural, educational or legal measures are more promising for preventing drivers from passing extremely close to bicyclists. Details Item Type Articles Creators Walker, I., Garrard, I. and Jowitt, F. DOI 10.1016/j.aap.2013.11.007 Departments Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > Psychology Publisher Statement Walker_2013.pdf: NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Accident Analysis & Prevention. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2013, DOI 10.1016/j.aap.2013.11.007 Refereed Yes Status Published ID Code 37890 Find a copy
