Hello, could you help me with my universisty project on bicycle safety?

[raquelisima]

Hello everybody! I am doing a project on safety on bicycles for my Open University course. Here I have two different questionnaires I would like you to complete. I would much appreciate it if you could spare a couple of minutes, it is for a good cause!
the questionnaires are: one for cyclists and one for motorists. If you cycle and drive and have time to complete both it would be great. Thank you!
the link for cyclists questionnaire is:
http://www.questform.co.uk/user/takesurvey.php?cid=999&fid=935
and the link for motorists questionnaire is:
http://www.questform.co.uk/user/takesurvey.php?cid=999&fid=

 

[islandboy]

May I suggest reading:

Ideal world:

Effective Cycling
John Forrester
MIT Press, London England

Todays world:

The art of cycling : a guide to bicycling in 21st-century America / Robert Hurst ; foreword by Marla Streb.
Hurst, Robert (Robert J.)
Guilford, Conn. : Falcon, c2007

 

[Fausto Coppied]

Interesting short little survey. Keep us posted on your findings and what is done with them.

As I began to explain in your comments section and was cut short, in North America we spend too much effort and money on dedicated bike paths and not enough on bikes lanes and awareness. Some classic examples in Montreal are bike paths separated from vehicular traffic only to cross streets and create very dangerous blind spots where neither the cars nor bikes expect to see each other.

Bike path proponents seem to think getting government to spend a lot of money on a segregated path is the best solution when, in fact, these paths are often the cause of accidents, lulling cyclist into a false sense of security only to throw them into busy intersections.

Furthermore, the permanent narow paths in Montreal are impossible to clean of snow because they are to narrow fro the stret cleaing equip. So often the paths are full of debrtis for weeks in the spring. They are created using 3 or 4 foot medians which narrow both the streets and the bike lanes. They are inefficient.

Bike lanes are cheaper and safer solution but they require much better marking and signange here in North America and more enforcement by the police in ticketing motorists who do not obey the rules of the shared lanes.

 

[raquelisima]

Hello! and thank you for the comments. I agree with you on the cycle paths being a problem more than a solution.
In Holland cyclists don't wear any safety products and they have the lowest rate of accidents involving motorists. That says a lot about London, where I live. If you do not wear any high visibility clothes in London you are suicidal.
Anyway, waht I am trying to find out is what people think of existing solutions to the problem of bicycle safety. I am doing a course in Innovation and I have to come up with a new product idea. I cycle to work everyday so bicycles is my topic, and safety is one of the areas I am interested in improving.

Interesting short little survey. Keep us posted on your findings and what is done with them.

As I began to explain in your comments section and was cut short, in North America we spend too much effort and money on dedicated bike paths and not enough on bikes lanes and awareness. Some classic examples in Montreal are bike paths separated from vehicular traffic only to cross streets and create very dangerous blind spots where neither the cars nor bikes expect to see each other.

Bike path proponents seem to think getting government to spend a lot of money on a segregated path is the best solution when, in fact, these paths are often the cause of accidents, lulling cyclist into a false sense of security only to throw them into busy intersections.

Furthermore, the permanent narow paths in Montreal are impossible to clean of snow because they are to narrow fro the stret cleaing equip. So often the paths are full of debrtis for weeks in the spring. They are created using 3 or 4 foot medians which narrow both the streets and the bike lanes. They are inefficient.

Bike lanes are cheaper and safer solution but they require much better marking and signange here in North America and more enforcement by the police in ticketing motorists who do not obey the rules of the shared lanes.

 

[raquelisima]

Thank you for the info and the linkd, very helfull

May I suggest reading:

Ideal world:

Effective Cycling
John Forrester
MIT Press, London England

Todays world:

The art of cycling : a guide to bicycling in 21st-century America / Robert Hurst ; foreword by Marla Streb.
Hurst, Robert (Robert J.)
Guilford, Conn. : Falcon, c2007

 

[Fausto Coppied]

I have always found the best way to increase bike safety, be it for commuting or racing, is to not marginalize the bikes but make them evident and incorporate them into the normal traffic or even better, give them priority.


In racing the worse accidents I have seen are a result of trying to marginalize the bike races and attempt to make them less of an convenience to motorists. It just doesn't work. Yellow line rules and the like are just organizers and officials being lazy. In cases where total road closure is not possible then complete rolling closures should be done. If you cannot even manage to close a small circuit, then don't bother having the race.

Be serious.

 

[raquelisima]

Ok, you wanted me to keep updating fo the results of my questionnaires.
So far what I can say is that not many women ride bicycles, or maybe they do not like answering questionnaires!
Also both motorists and cyclists think that people on bikes do not respect traffic laws but it seems as though almost everyone thinks that their area is bicycle-friendly becouse there are cycle lanes!
I have to do more analysis but so far that is about it.

I have always found the best way to increase bike safety, be it for commuting or racing, is to not marginalize the bikes but make them evident and incorporate them into the normal traffic or even better, give them priority.


In racing the worse accidents I have seen are a result of trying to marginalize the bike races and attempt to make them less of an convenience to motorists. It just doesn't work. Yellow line rules and the like are just organizers and officials being lazy. In cases where total road closure is not possible then complete rolling closures should be done. If you cannot even manage to close a small circuit, then don't bother having the race.

Be serious.