Communication of bicyclists with car drivers and resulting consequences for traffic safety

Bicyclists face a higher accident risk than other road users (ETSC 2012). The question therefore is how traffic safety for bicyclists can be enhanced? Communication is essential in traffic in order to inform other road users and to coordinate behaviour. The current proposal focuses on the analysis of how bicyclists communicate with car drivers in order to obtain a better understanding of the strategies that lie behind a certain communication behaviour. Communication is defined as exchange of information between persons. Any behaviour in the presence of others can be considered as a form of communication. This includes verbal communication and non verbal communication, e. g. physical appearance (e.g. wearing a helmet). The aim of this study is to obtain a better understanding of the communication processes between bicyclists and car drivers and the effects they have. The general hypothesis is that infrastructure has an influence on the communication between bicyclists and other road users. Infrastructure influences the willingness and the chance for communication: e. g. the intersection design enhances the visibility of cyclists. Differences in communication behaviour and the used strategies are supposed to be related to socio-demographic variables like age, sex, driving experience and attitudes, e.g. own responsibility or one`s own role in the traffic system. Two focus groups with eight persons of mixed sex and different age, who actively ride a bicycle, will be assembled. The interviews will be evaluated by means of content analysis (Mayring 2010). Video observation will be used in order to record non-verbal communication processes. Four intersections in Vienna are selected; three cameras will be used to record the observations. Altogether, 100 participants will be recruited as test-bicyclists, half of the group female bicyclists, the other half male bicyclists. Additionally another 100 bicyclists are serving as control group. The recordings will be analysed with the software INTERACT, by using traffic-conflict technique and manual coding of behaviour sequences. Additionally to the observation a survey with all participants will be conducted, as well as in-depth interviews with 8 to 10 participants in order to obtain detailed information about the strategies. The results can be adapted and used for the drivers` training, but also for the training of bicycle riders. In addition recommendations for the adaptation of the bicycle infrastructure or input for road safety awareness campaigns can be derived from the results. The research project is carried out as PhD thesis (3 peer-reviewed articles in journals) by Mag. Elisabeth Füssl and by Prof. Dr. Ralf Risser as the mentor of this thesis. The results will be presented at appropriate symposia, published on the home page www.factum.at, and presented at various universities.

No additional funding sources recorded.