Seat belts and cyclists

[Chris S]

Anybody else see QI last night? The number of cyclists killed on British roads dramatically increased when seat belts were made compulsory in 1983.

Apparently when people (car drivers) feel safer they take more risks.

 

[chillyuk]

I didn't see QI, I can't stand that twat who chairs it, but the research also follows (or precedes) that which showed that car drivers showed less consideration to cyclists wearing "the gear" than to a cyclist wearing normal clothing and no helmet. (I know not all cycling enthusiasts wear helmets).

 

[automatic_jon]

I didn't see QI, I can't stand that twat who chairs it, but the research also follows (or precedes) that which showed that car drivers showed less consideration to cyclists wearing "the gear" than to a cyclist wearing normal clothing and no helmet. (I know not all cycling enthusiasts wear helmets).

I believe the theory here runs that those in all "the gear" are perceived to be more competent and therefore need less allowance for wobbles and such like. Which apparently make it ok to pass us with an eighth of an inch gap on a dual carriageway.


My own anecdotal experience supports this, riding the same piece of road in my civvies and my club kit at similar times of day.

 

[2Loose]

Could it have been because drivers were no longer 'free' to lean forward easily to see past the window pillars any more?
I find it hard to believe that the 'safety' offered by a restraining strap caused drivers to disregard the safety of others. Well, not deliberately anyway.

Interesting statistic nonetheless, for whatever reasons.

 

[Norm]

I find it hard to believe that the 'safety' offered by a restraining strap caused drivers to disregard the safety of others. Well, not deliberately anyway.

That's not what happens, and not what was said above.

When our environment becomes safer, we are less focused on the risks and potential dangers. For example, when riding along an off-road path, nearly everyone pays attention to the surface to find the best line and avoid the roots and rocks. When riding on tarmac, you don't need to do that, your attention could be elsewhere and you might miss potholes or glass in the road. It is not an intentional action to disregard the surface, it's just that the perceived risks of a problem with the surface are lower on tarmac so a real problem may not be spotted until you hit it.

There is no intent on the drivers to "disregard the safety of others". As the car becomes safer, from the theory above, we concentrate less on the act of driving so we might miss environmental factors (such as signs, surface changes or cyclists) that would otherwise have noticed if we were driving rather than just pointing the car.

 

[Cheule]

Sorry, for a minute there I thought the thread was about seat belts for cyclists! :-)

 

[snorri]

I have always remembered a story told by a driver at the time when seat belts were fitted to some cars but wearing them was not yet compulsory. He related how some distance from home he realised he was going to be late in arriving for an event, so he told his passengers to put on their seat belts as he was going to speed up in an effort to reach his destination on time.
It gave me a bit of a shock at the time, although it was a long time before I heard anyone use the term risk compensation.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I am sometimes in and out of the car a lot over short distances as I do deliveries. On those occasions I often leave the belt off and I am much more concious of my vulnerability when doing so and temper my driving accordingly, so I would agree the safer you feel the less care you take.

 

[2Loose]

Understood, the 'comfort zone' takes some people from 'alert' to 'standby'.

 

[TheDoctor]

It's called 'risk compensation' and the effect is quite real.
Fit cars with ABS and there will be fewer accidents, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong.

 

[Norm]

Could the same argument be used in the speed limit debate.

 

[TheDoctor]

Yes, I suppose it could.
Except that if you're driving like a twat at 80 mph the results will be much worse than if you're driving like a twat at 50.

 

[Wobblers]

It is indeed called risk compensation.

I remember seeing a demonstration of it on the telly back when documentaries still actually had facts. They took one driver, his volvo estate, a straight bit of road with cones at the end and told him to drive at thirty and make an emergency stop before the cones. Unsurprisingly, he stopped well before. They then repeated the experiment, same driver, same road, same Volvo estate and same cones! ...but this time he wore a seatbelt.

Result: squashed traffic cones. It was also commented that the casualty rate for vulnerable road users had increased once mandatory seat belt use had come in. It's a well established phenomenon. Everyone has their own comfort zone - if you make them feel less safe, they'll adjust their behaviour to increase their perceived safety. And vice versa: make someone feel safer and they'll feel able to take more risks. Everyone does it and most of the time it's entirely subconscious - you're not even aware that you are doing it.

Like a lot of other people, I've noticed a definite difference when I'm in civvies or lycra - presumably they think I'm competent when I look the part (Ha! More fool them!)

 

[Rob3rt]

Sorry, for a minute there I thought the thread was about seat belts for cyclists! :-)

Re-strap!

http://restrap.co.uk/

 

[Fiona N]

I find it hard to believe that the 'safety' offered by a restraining strap caused drivers to disregard the safety of others. Well, not deliberately anyway.

Sadly this is a well documented phenomenon - every increase in the perceived safety of car occupants, and the driver in particular, results in a spate of accidents due to increase in dangerous driving. ABS brakes were accompanied by similar problems in Switzerland, especially in bad road conditions - drivers felt safer, drove faster then found that ABS doesn't actually work 100% and pedestrians and cyclists were significant casualties.

Hence the 'spike in the steering wheel' theory to make drivers feel unsafe and thus conversely drive more carefully - we can but hope