[Article] Urban Surprise: More Bicyclists Means Fewer Accidents

Victor

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080905/sc_livescience/urbansurprisemorebicyclistsmeansfeweraccidents

Urban Surprise: More Bicyclists Means Fewer Accidents

Inside Science News Service

LiveScience.com Fri Sep 5, 5:32 PM ET

In a study that at first glance seems counterintuitive, researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, reviewed safety studies from 17 countries and 68 cities in California and found that the more people bike in a community, the less they collide with motorists.
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"It appears that motorists adjust their behavior in the presence of increasing numbers of people bicycling because they expect or experience more people cycling," said Julie Hatfield, an injury expert from the university.

With fewer accidents, people perceive cycling as safer, so more people cycle, thus making it even safer, she said.

"Rising cycling rates mean motorists are more likely to be cyclists, and therefore be more conscious of, and sympathetic towards, cyclists," she said.

Safety experts said the decrease in accidents that comes with an increase in cycling is independent of improvements in cycling-friendly laws and better infrastructure such as bike paths. The safety studies reviewed were from Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, 14 other European countries, and 68 cities in California.

Although the review focused on bicycling, it appears that the more is safer rule also applies to pedestrians, Hatfield said.

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This article was provided by Inside Science News Service, which is supported by the American Institute of Physics.

* Original Story: Urban Surprise: More Bicyclists Means Fewer Accidents

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monument

I mention this concept here...

Meanwhile, research published by the British Medical Journal , in its Injury Prevention Journal , supports the idea of safety in numbers. It shows that successfully promoting cycling can itself increase safety because, when more people start cycling, other road-users get used to them and fewer accidents occur. "This result is unexpected," according to the research. "It appears that motorists adjust their behaviour in the presence of people walking and bicycling."

From here, which is short but interisting reading...

Objective: To examine the relationship between the numbers of people walking or bicycling and the frequency of collisions between motorists and walkers or bicyclists. The common wisdom holds that the number of collisions varies directly with the amount of walking and bicycling. However, three published analyses of collision rates at specific intersections found a non-linear relationship, such that collisions rates declined with increases in the numbers of people walking or bicycling.

Data: This paper uses five additional data sets (three population level and two time series) to compare the amount of walking or bicycling and the injuries incurring in collisions with motor vehicles.

Results: The likelihood that a given person walking or bicycling will be struck by a motorist varies inversely with the amount of walking or bicycling. This pattern is consistent across communities of varying size, from specific intersections to cities and countries, and across time periods.

Discussion: This result is unexpected. Since it is unlikely that the people walking and bicycling become more cautious if their numbers are larger, it indicates that the behavior of motorists controls the likelihood of collisions with people walking and bicycling. It appears that motorists adjust their behavior in the presence of people walking and bicycling. There is an urgent need for further exploration of the human factors controlling motorist behavior in the presence of people walking and bicycling.

Conclusion: A motorist is less likely to collide with a person walking and bicycling if more people walk or bicycle. Policies that increase the numbers of people walking and bicycling appear to be an effective route to improving the safety of people walking and bicycling.

Stark

Not a huge surprise to me. I've often noticed that if I choose a cycling route that gets frequented by other cyclists, then drivers are much more courteous and alert towards me than if I choose a route where people aren't used to cyclists.