Background

Feeling unsafe when riding a bicycle is a key barrier to cycling participation. To better understand the experiences of cycling on-road, this study aimed to explore the relationship between cyclists’ subjective experiences and the lateral passing distance of motor vehicles.

Methods

An on-road observational study was conducted in Victoria, Australia. Participants had a custom device installed on their bicycle that measured the lateral passing distance of motor vehicles and included a handlebar mounted “panic button” that participants could press when they felt that a passing event was too close or unsafe. A random effects logistic regression model was used to investigate the relationship between cyclist sex, motor vehicle type and infrastructure characteristics, and button press events.

Results

A total of 217 button press events were recorded (1.2 % of all passing events) from 60 participants. For events with a passing distance closer than 100 cm, 10.4 % of these events had a recorded button press. The adjusted odds of a button press event were over three-fold higher when the rider was passed by a truck, compared to when the rider was passed by a sedan. The predicted probability of a button press event was higher in events occurring in road environments with no bike lane and no parked cars (1.9 %) compared to no bike lane with parked cars (1.2 %), a bike lane with no parked cars (0.9 %) and a bike lane with parked cars (0.7 %).

Conclusions

The study identified important links between cyclists’ subjective experience of unsafe events, motor vehicle types and infrastructure characteristics. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on capturing subjective experiences to inform and advance the development and implementation of safe and comfortable cycling infrastructure.

中文翻译：

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骑车人骑自行车的主观经验：与机动车通过距离的关系

背景

骑自行车时感到不安全是骑自行车的主要障碍。为了更好地了解骑自行车的经历，本研究旨在探讨骑车人的主观体验与机动车横向通过距离之间的关系。

方法

在澳大利亚维多利亚进行了道路观察研究。参与者在他们的自行车上安装了一个自定义设备，该设备可以测量汽车的横向通过距离，并包括一个安装在车把上的“紧急按钮”，当参与者感到过关事件太近或不安全时，可以按下该按钮。随机效应逻辑回归模型用于研究骑自行车者的性别，机动车类型和基础设施特征以及按钮按下事件之间的关系。

结果

记录了来自60个参与者的217个按钮按下事件（占所有通过事件的1.2％）。对于通过距离小于100 cm的事件，这些事件中有10.4％记录了按下按钮的事件。与骑车经过轿车时相比，当骑车经过卡车时，按钮按下事件的调整后赔率高出三倍以上。与没有停放车道的自行车道（1.2％），没有停放车道的自行车道相比，在没有停放车道和停放车的道路环境中发生按钮事件的预计概率要高（1.9％） ％）和带停车位的自行车道（0.7％）。

结论

该研究确定了骑车人对不安全事件的主观经验，机动车类型和基础设施特征之间的重要联系。需要更加重视捕获主观经验，以告知和推进安全舒适的自行车基础设施的开发和实施。