Okla-homey
9/12/2006, 06:43 AM
who knew?
Cyclists wearing helmets 'more likely to be hit'
(Filed: 11/09/2006)
Cyclists who wear helmets are more likely to be hit by overtaking vehicles, new research has suggested.
Buses and trucks were found to be the worst offenders in the experiment
Drivers get more than 3.1in (8cm) closer to cyclists wearing helmets than they do to bare-headed riders and female cyclists are given more room on the road than male riders, according to a survey from the University of Bath.
Dr Ian Walker, a traffic psychologist, used a bicycle fitted with an ultrasonic distance sensor to record data from more than 2,500 overtaking motorists in Salisbury and Bristol.
He said drivers were twice as likely to get close to his bicycle when he was wearing the helmet.
Dr Walker said: "Drivers think, 'He knows what he's doing, he won't do anything surprising'. But that's really quite a dangerous thought, particularly as so many cycling novices are told to wear helmets."
Dr Walker, whose research is to be published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, was struck twice during the course of the experiment.
To test another theory, Dr Walker wore a long wig to see if there was any difference in passing distance when vehicles thought they were overtaking a female cyclist.
Vehicles gave him an average of 14cm more space when he was wearing the wig.
Dr Walker said this may be because women are seen as less predictable than men on the roads, or because female cyclists are more rare and so are treated with more caution.
More than 11,000 cyclists were injured and 109 killed on UK roads in 2004, the latest year for which figures are available.
The research comes as Labour considers plans to make bells compulsory on all bicycles. Cyclists would face on-the-spot penalties and even two years in jail if they did not warn pedestrians of their approach.
Cyclists wearing helmets 'more likely to be hit'
(Filed: 11/09/2006)
Cyclists who wear helmets are more likely to be hit by overtaking vehicles, new research has suggested.
Buses and trucks were found to be the worst offenders in the experiment
Drivers get more than 3.1in (8cm) closer to cyclists wearing helmets than they do to bare-headed riders and female cyclists are given more room on the road than male riders, according to a survey from the University of Bath.
Dr Ian Walker, a traffic psychologist, used a bicycle fitted with an ultrasonic distance sensor to record data from more than 2,500 overtaking motorists in Salisbury and Bristol.
He said drivers were twice as likely to get close to his bicycle when he was wearing the helmet.
Dr Walker said: "Drivers think, 'He knows what he's doing, he won't do anything surprising'. But that's really quite a dangerous thought, particularly as so many cycling novices are told to wear helmets."
Dr Walker, whose research is to be published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, was struck twice during the course of the experiment.
To test another theory, Dr Walker wore a long wig to see if there was any difference in passing distance when vehicles thought they were overtaking a female cyclist.
Vehicles gave him an average of 14cm more space when he was wearing the wig.
Dr Walker said this may be because women are seen as less predictable than men on the roads, or because female cyclists are more rare and so are treated with more caution.
More than 11,000 cyclists were injured and 109 killed on UK roads in 2004, the latest year for which figures are available.
The research comes as Labour considers plans to make bells compulsory on all bicycles. Cyclists would face on-the-spot penalties and even two years in jail if they did not warn pedestrians of their approach.