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In the past the idea may have been true that, in the Netherlands, as drivers were highly likely to have cycled as a child they would treat cyclist better than if they weren’t themselves cyclists. However, with increasing car ownership and mileage in that country I suspect that this is becoming less so. Anecdotal and video evidence from the internet, and my own observations, suggest that there increasing tensions between some drivers and cyclists in the Netherlands.
There’s been a couple of u-tube videos, notably regarding an incident where the driver of a pick-up drove into a group of cyclist, plus I have a photo of a motorist stopping across a cycle path blocking their path (in Amsterdam). I believe this is not unusual (but probably varies across the regions). Maybe a first step would be to compare experience across the Netherlands, particularly as there are wide variations in cycle usage (below 20% in some parts of the West Netherlands to above 50% in the northern regions).
In some respects we may be attempting to lift a snapshot of a moving picture and combine it with some wishful thinking on the part of the pro-training establishment.
Though it does raise the question, to what extent are there formal training programmes for schoolkids in the high cycling/low accident countries (Denmark and the Netherlands) and how do they compare with those in other countries?
Cheers
John Meudell
From: Cycling and Society Research Group discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tim Jones
Sent: 06 July 2011 23:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Looking for a paper from 1995 Velo City -- Dr. Petit
Hi
Perhaps it was Michel Petit of FUBicy (who spoke at the Velo-city Munich conference in 2007)
Have a look at p6 of this PDF document:
http://www.fubicy.org/IMG/pdf/VC90.pdf
If not maybe he (or his organisation) would be able to identify his namesake given that the interviews were presumably conducted in French and any documentation is likely to be in the same language(?)
Detective work over...
Tim Jones
Oxford UK
On 6 July 2011 15:39, David Patton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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
--
Research Fellow - Land Use and Transport Planning
Co-Investigator EPSRC Understanding Walking and Cycling
Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development
& Department of Planning
School of the Built Environment
Oxford Brookes University
Gipsy Lane Campus
Oxford OX3 0BP
Tel +44 (0)1865 483436
Email [log in to unmask]
Staff webpage http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/be/staff/timjones.html
EPSRC Understanding Walking and Cycling - http://tinyurl.com/nxgdcj
Quote: "“A society which measures man’s [sic] worth in terms of volume of publications accumulated is no less sick than one which measures his worth in terms of dollars amassed” (Stea 1969:1)."
Stea D (1969) Positions, purposes, pragmatics: A journal of radical geography. Antipode 1(1):1–2