Scholarly literature on bike safety?
 

I'm in the process of writing an academic paper, and I would love to include some 'official' information on the safety of bicycle riding within the city. Being that this is an academic paper, I need to use peer reviewed sources, can anyone make a suggestion on authors to look at, or peer reviewed journals that might deal with this sort of subject? Thanks in advance.

try a Google search for Bicycle accident statistics

Bicycling and the Law is well annotated. I suspect that it references many such studies.

Of course, you could always cite Bike Forums. It's always scholarly, and anything you write gets review by your peers - i.e., people who are just as uninformed as the poster.

What school will accept a thesis on "Bike Safety"? Or is this a junior high thing?

And your thesis subject was?

This is far from a thesis dissertation on bicycle safety, thanks for the concern!

I'm writing a medium-length paper on urban infrastructure and city planning, and want to include some information on planning for bicycles. This includes what inherant risks there are with current city infrastructure and planning practices, how the current system favours motorists over cyclists, how it is being remedied on a structural level (the New York style buffered bike lanes, for example) or a personal level, through vehicular cycling, how bicycle riders view and use space to enhance their safety (pedestrian left turns, for example), and so on.

Is the situation simply as Old Town implied, that anyone would be laughed out of a school or academic journal for attempting to publish something like this, and that is why I am having difficulty finding authors? Surely there are Jane Jacobs or William Whytes of the cycling world, I just seem to be having great difficulty in finding them, and simply came seeking advice.

Robert Hurst has a pretty good list of papers, etc., on a page appropriately titled 'lies.'

http://www.industrializedcyclist.com/lies.html

You might find something scholarly somewhere in there.

You might try the the publications of John Pucher at:
http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/

The mention of his name or work is a catalyst for an apoplectic reaction from the hysterical members of the John Forester Effective Cycling™ Gang, a high recommendation indeed.

^I usually fall into apoplexy the moment I see ILTBs Cheshire Cat.
But Pucher's got some interesting reading there.
And the answers to a lot of questions that I've had about these bike countries.:thumb:

Fortunately, I was not encombered (sp?) with a college degree. I barely made it out of high school as my poor spelling in these posts will attest. Most people are educated far beyond their need or capacity. I chose to start a business at 17. Retired at 38 with no need to ever work again. I did OK. As for the need for a "academic paper" on bikes? Seems a little trivial if you ask me. And I ride the things (bikes) all the time. You can over think simple subjects. So I maintain any school that would accept such a work as a serious effort is not worth a damn. Might explain the dearth of research materials the poster is seeking.

^Seems like you've haven't been encombered with congeniality either.

I was not born with the need to please others. You strike me as a "needy" kid. Sorry I can't help.

Thank you both, this is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for.



I'm glad that not having an education has worked out so well for you, and I salute whatever life accomplishments you feel you deserve recognition for. Now that you have received your validation, would you kindly remove yourself, and your belligerent attitude, from threads that you are only going to spend time polluting?

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/.../staticf...OTHS809572.pdf

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/.../staticf...006/810802.pdf

These two links get you to some National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data and its analysis, on pedalcyclist/automobile crashes. The first paper was extensively reviewed within NHTSA before publication. I'd call it a primary source, being based on a compilation of police-reported collisions involving bikes and cars from all 50 states.

All theses are academic papers. Not all academic papers are theses.

An academic paper on Urban Infrastructure and City Planning is no more a paper on bikes than a Human Anatomy paper is a paper on fingers.

Fussy group.

See at least post #19 in this Roundabout thread.

Some of the following may duplicate links on sites mentioned by other posters and some links may be dead:

Search yielding at least 13 full text UK reports LINK http://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace/simple-search? enter the search terms: pedal cycle in the "for" to retrieve numerous full-text studies including:
Motor vehicle and pedal cycle conspicuity reports from late 1990-2000's, UK:
Summary of motor vehicle and pedal cycle conspicuity: part 2 - pedal cycles
Motor vehicle and pedal cycle conspicuity: part 2 - pedal cycles.
Final report: product decoding guide
Summary of motor vehicle and pedal cycle conspicuity: part 2 - pedal cycles.
part 3 - retroreflective and fluorescent materials: conspicuity of markings
part 3 - retroreflective and fluorescent materials, discomfort glare of markings
part 3 - retroreflective and fluorescent materials, final report
part 3: retroflective and fluorescent materials, disability glare of red markings
part 3 - retroreflective and fluorescent materials, validation report
part 3 - retroreflective and fluorescent materials, disability glare of graphic markings
part 3: Retro-reflective and fluorescent materials. Summary report
Motor vehicle and pedal cycle conspicuity: part 1- vehicle mounted warning beacons. Summary report
part 3: Vehicle mounted warning beacons. Final report.

Interventions for increasing pedestrian and cyclist visibility for the prevention of death and injuries.(Cochrane review) LINK
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum

Effects of retroreflector positioning on nighttime recognition of pedestrians 1995 LINK

http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediaw...666I4kCOrrrrQ-


Conspicuity and bicycle crashes: preliminary findings of the Taupo Bicycle Study. Injury Prevention 2008;14:11-18.
Full text & link to PDF: http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/cgi/...t/full/14/1/11
One informative response at this link reads:

Dear Editor

As Thornley et al [1] indicate, the use of high-conspicuity aids by cyclists must be beneficial: motorists can only avoid collision with the cyclist if they can detect the cyclist.

Unfortunately, high-conspicuity aids are not likely to affect the visibility of the roadway environment around the cyclist, so motorists' perceptions of the cyclist's motion and distance will remain poor in conditions of night, fog and precipitation. Laboratory evidence shows unequivocally that perception of motion requires that the moving object be viewed against a visible background of other objects; without a visible background, the threshold for detecting the object's motion is extremely high [2].

One of the major cues for distance - motion parallax - is also dependent on a visible background. Motion parallax refers to movement of the retinal images of viewed objects as a result of the observer's movement; for example, viewing a distant point entails rates of retinal image motion inversely proportional to the distance of each of the objects from the observer. However, motion parallax is ineffective for perceiving an isolated object's distance [3]. Hence, the cyclist - for example, performing manoeuvres to left or right at a road junction - must be viewed against a visible roadway environment for motion parallax to be effective [4].

The argument presented here is underscored by the clear effectiveness of street-lighting in the reduction of pedestrian collisions with motor vehicles [5] - the pedestrian AND the roadway environment are made more conspicuous. This outcome must extend to cyclists.

The conclusion must be that the value of high-conspicuity aids should not be overstated: fundamental aspects of the motorist's perception must remain weak.

References
1. Thornley SJ, Woodward A, Langley JD, Ameratunga SN, Rodgers A. Conspicuity and bicycle crashes: preliminary findings of the Taupo Bicycle Study. Inj Prev 2008;14:11-18.
2. Reinhardt-Rutland AH. Induced movement in the visual modality: an overview. Psychol Bull 1988;103:57-72.
3. Reinhardt-Rutland AH. Motion parallax. In Craighead WE, Nemeroff CB (eds.). Encyclopedia of psychology and behavioral science (pp 977-979). New York: Wiley.
4. Reinhardt-Rutland AH. Some implications of motion-perception evidence and theory for road accidents. J Int Assoc of Traffic and Safety Sci 1992;16:9-14
5. Retting RA, Ferguson SA, McCartt AT. A review of evidence-based traffic engineering measures designed to reduce pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes. Am J Public Health 2003; 93: 1456-1463

Bicycle Reflector Project (CPSC)
http://www.cpsc.gov/volstd/bike/BikeReport.pdf

Safety in numbers in Australia- more walker & bicylists, safer walking & bicycling
http://www.magma.ca/~ocbc/safeinnumbers.pdf or http://www.cycle-helmets.com/hpja_2005_1_robinson.pdf

better resolution of the graphs http://www.cyclehelmets.org/papers/c2022.pdf

Abstract: http://www.healthpromotion.org.au/jo...1/article9.php


Review of Basic Research in Bicycle Traffic Science, Traffic Operations, and Facility Design. DEAN TAYLOR AND W. JEFFREY DAVIS
entire article:
http://www.enhancements.org/download/trb/1674-014.PDF

Conversions of Wide Curb Lanes: The Effect on Bicycle and Motor Vehicle Interactions. Transportation Record 2005 Vol 1939, 37-44
Abstract only
http://trb.metapress.com/content/h11152543h7h8w10/

Wide Outside Through Lanes: Effective Design of Integrated Passing Facilities
complete paper:http://www.campo-nc.us/BPSG/docs/Wid..._Goodridge.pdf


THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SAFETY MEASURES AT RAILWAY LEVEL CROSSINGS ON ROAD USER BEHAVIOUR
Richard van der Horst, Paul Bakker
complete paper:

http://www.ictct.org/workshops/02-Brno/VanDerHorst.pdf

Rethinking Geometric Design Standards for Bike Paths
J Transportation Engineering 2007
Abstract only

Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan Technical Memorandum 2: Existing Conditions Report Pensacola FL 2005
http://www.wfrpc.dst.fl.us/bctpo/bik...ionsreport.pdf

Statewide Safety Study of Bicycles and Pedestrians on Freeways, Expressways, Toll Bridges, and Tunnels, 2001
http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/r...ents/01-01.pdf

Measures to promote cyclist safety and mobility 2001
http://www.swov.nl/rapport/promising/wp2final.pdf

Benefit-Cost Analysis of Added Bicycle Phase at Existing Signalized Intersection
Abstract
Improving bicycling and pedestrian safety, NY 2002
http://www.nysphysicalactivity.org/s...NYBCManual.pdf

Cost-benefit analysis of measures for vulnerable road users. Promotion of Measures for Vulnerable Road Users
Contract No. RO-97-RS.2112
http://www.swov.nl/rapport/promising/wp5final.pdf

Benefit-Cost Analysis of Added Bicycle Phase at Existing Signalized
IntersectionAbstract

UK Department for Transportation reports:
Pedal Bicycles (Safety) Regulations 2002
Pedal Bicycles (Safety) Regulations 2002 - consultation paper
Bicycle helmets: review of effectiveness (No.30)
The proposed revised Highway Code and the rules for cyclists
Guidance about lights on pedal bicycles LINK http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehi...sonpedalbi4556
Guidance about the supply and sale of pedal cycles
The Pedal Bicycles (Safety) Regulations 2003
Adjacent and Shared Use Facilities for Pedestrians and Cyclists

Given how poorly done the prior literature is, a more scientifically rigorous treatment should be welcomed, if not by urban planners, then by the traffic engineering profession.

The effectiveness of motorist education/enforcement and bicyclist education/enforcement campaigns would be an interesting topic. There are also a number of new engineering designs and social experiments now being conducted with urban bicycling, including shared use markings and painted lanes. It would be interesting to conduct rigorous before/after experiments, user/motorist surveys, collision analyses, etc. for any and all of these.

I could not disagree more. Such a work would put 98% of the population in general, and city planners in particular, to sleep in about 15 seconds. Never forget you are posting to the 2% who really dig bikes. Most people don't give a crap. City planners mostly play lip service to that segment of the voting public who can influence their existance. No doubt a few cities have some bike friendly advocates in power, but they are few. Go back and read your last sentence about user/motorist surveys, collision analyses, etc. Just the sound of that has me nodding off. It is not my intent to be disparaging of you the advocate. I just think such an indepthwritten analysis would end up in the shredder. To be honest, that's where I'd put it and I like bikes. Make your own good luck by riding carefully and understand nothing inlife is guaranteed.

You may find some useful info on the UK sites http://www.sustrans.org.uk/resources...alking-schemes (other publications on that site) and www.ctc.org.uk

What is the point you keep trying to make? Only 2% of the population would be interested in reading it, so why bother? I'm sorry, if you go by those standards, there would be no technical research in science, medicine, economics, etc. Heck, I'm a mathematician, so you're pretty much guaranteed to to throw away anything I would write, which is fine by me. Most technical papers are written for other experts in the field, probably less than 1% of the population anyways.

rabinabo: You are kinda making my point for me. Take the 2% of bikers and figure only a fraction of that small number would read and digest such a work and you have a handfull of Americans. Now present such a paper of limited interest to a teacher who's grade you are depending on......unless that person pedaled to school that morning, I hold out little hope of anything but a C at best. And that to just have done with it.

It's a boring subject. The OP was presenting the thing for a grade. I was simply pointing out that he (or she) could find a more palatable theme to subject his teacher to. It's about getting a good grade, not saving humanity.

Funny you mention math. There is no more usefull field in the modern world and no more sleep inducing for the general population. But you already know that.

It all depends on your intended audience, is what I guess I was trying to say. In any case, the instructor should be able to grade based on how relevant the topic is and how well researched and written the paper is. Besides, why the heck do you care? If you take a look at all the scientific research going on out there, you'd find a lot of equally boring research, like a scholarly article somewhere that proved that yes, consumption of beer makes the opposite sex more attractive. Road infrastructure may be boring to you, but it definitely has an impact on most people's lives, even in subtle ways that most people wouldn't realize.

rabinabo: You did get one thing right: I really don't care. You win.