 |
 |
Can anyone help locate the paper or researcher mentioned in this post? Thanks --- This comes in the context of the daily list-serv of the US-based Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP). Many thanks, David Patton Washington, DC ***** From: michael ronkin [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 4:54 AM To: 'Sarah O'Brien'; Apbp Listserv (E-mail) Cc: 'Peter L. Jacobsen' Subject: Re: [apbp] improving safety of all road users by starting with bikeand ped education in young road users Hi Sarah, great question, one that needs to be looked into more deeply. Here’s what I can tell you, and I hope someone takes it further. In 1995, at the Velocity conference in Basel, I attended a session where a last-minute substitute presenter gave a fascinating report. He obtained the driving records of some 10,000 random French drivers; he interviewed them by phone (well, I’m guessing a bunch of underpaid interns did!) and asked them one simple question; did they ride bikes as children. The results were clear: those who had ridden bikes as children had much better driving records, like 2-3 times fewer crashes and moving violations that those who hadn’t. He surmised there were 2 explanations: experience using the streets before getting behind the wheel of a car, and a greater sensitivity to other, more vulnerable road users. In the “safety in numbers ”theory, the most common premise is drivers are more used to seeing bicyclists and pedestrians on the streets; but some of us also surmise there’s a greater chance the drivers in those communities are also bicyclists and walk more. So now you’re wondering “where can I get a hold of that study?” Unfortunately I have sought it with no luck. The speaker was last minute substitute, so there was no summary in the conference proceedings; he was talking from notes. 1995 was before the widespread use of the internet, so no luck in that area either. I do remember his name: Dr. Petit if anyone cares to try again. Or the study could be replicated. I don’t know how privacy issues affect getting random drivers’ records in the US, and I’m sure in phone interviews you’d get a lot of no responses, but with a large enough sample, if just 50% are willing to answer, that still gives you a statistically large enough pool. But with or without a study, I’m convinced this is one major reason why there are fewer crashes overall in places like the Netherlands and other bicycle-friendly places. Michael Ronkin PS I cc’d Peter Jacobsen, author of the original safety-in-number study, if he cares to chime in. ***** De : Sarah O'Brien [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Envoyé : 28 June, 2011 18:02 À : [log in to unmask] Objet : [apbp] improving safety of all road users by starting with bike and ped education in young road users Hi y’all, Is there any research or evidence out there to suggest that teaching bicycle and pedestrian education at younger ages leads to safer drivers when they’re older? Thanks, Sarah ____________________________________________ Sarah Worth O'Brien Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager Institute for Transportation Research & Education NC State University 919-515-8703