Saturday 21 August 2010

Research corner


  • Wearing A Helmet Puts Cyclists At Risk, Suggests Research   ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2006). Dr Ian Walker's research in Bath, UK. Wear a helmet and drivers pass you closer. Are you listening, Bicycle Victoria? 

    • See also research on helmets collected here - an interesting range of studies

  • ABC radio broadcast on helmet laws on 21 Sept '10
  • A Virtuous Cycle: Safety In Numbers For Bicycle Riders ScienceDaily (Sep. 7, 2008) Dr Chris Rissel, Sydney Uni says "We should create a cycling friendly environment and accentuate cycling's positives rather than stress negatives with 'safety campaigns' that focus on cyclists without addressing drivers and road conditions. Reminding people of injury rates and risks, to wear helmets and reflective visible clothes has the unintended effect of reinforcing fears of cycling which discourages people from cycling." Motorists seem to change their behaviour and drive more safely when they see more cyclists and pedestrians around. 
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  • Major review article here Pucher J, J Dill and S Handy.2010. Infrastructure, Programs and Policies to Increase Bicycling: An International Review," Preventive Medicine, Vol. 50, No. S1, January 2010, pp S106-S125 Click here for PDF
  • Cycle Resource Centre from the Australian National Cycling Strategy 2005-10, Australia

 


Tuesday 3 August 2010

Traffic modelling

Actually, traffic modelling is pretty boring for cyclists, since we generally breeze past traffic jams or avoid them. This posting from Youtube and showing www.bicyclecouncil.org (the Dutch Center of expertise on bicycle policy) models of the effects of 10% increases, and 10% decreases, in bike traffic in a city.
On the left, a 10% decline in cycling rates over the next 10 years vis-à-vis, on the right, a 10% increase in cycling.
Check it http://sexify.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/the-bicycle-as-cure-for-traffic/