Originally Posted by
Bekologist
by changes you mean a combination of changes in traffic modality - more bicyclists and pedestrians - coupled to physical changes in the environment that influence greater safety?
okay.
That's a reiteration of the awareness in numbers traffic dynamic. Plan for safer and more diverse road use, see safety and modality sway in favor of the vulnerable road user.
I agree, combating motorist complacency towards standards of road safety is a sticky wicket.
No this is not a reiteration of safety in numbers. In the scenario I suggest the numbers don't matter... it is the change that matters... new stripes on the road, new barriers, even new pavement... any and all of which strike the motorist as different, so they respond differently... but then become complacent in a short while and return to old habits.
While this phenomena could increase safety, (due to heightened awareness) for a short while, merely due to the fact that motorists awareness will increase due to these changes... to keep that awareness level up, more changes would have to occur. A constantly changing environment will cause heightened awareness... but how to keep the environment constantly changing is the question. This same sort of phenomena also occurs when new construction occurs... so this is not merely due to the introduction of "numbers of cyclists."
Now safety in numbers may occur if the numbers of cyclists are enough to present that ever changing environment situation. Or if motorists are moving from an area of no cyclists to many cyclists and thus react in kind to the change.