Bicycle Travel, Injury Risk and Conspicuity. Application of Epidemiological Methods
type: CreativeWork
description: Background Regular cycling provides health, environmental and economic benefits but is rarely part of everyday travel for many people. The real and perceived risk of injury is commonly cited as a significant deterrent to engaging in such activity and is sometimes associated with the danger of motorised traffic. Bicycle-motor vehicle collisions often result from the driver’s failure to detect the cyclist in time, suggesting that conspicuity may be a contributing factor. Conspicuity can be categorised into physical conspicuity and attention conspicuity. The former may be enhanced by using conspicuity aids whereas the latter may be improved through the safety in numbers effect. In New Zealand, one of the most car-dependent countries, bicycling is marginalised and receives relatively little attention in the transport and road safety research agenda. As a result, there is insufficient evidence regarding bicycle travel, injury risk and associated factors to guide education and policy. Aims This thesis comprises three main components – bicycle travel, injury risk and conspicuity and aims:  to investigate the prevalence of bicycle travel, particularly for a trip to work, and identify associated enablers and barriers,  to estimate the exposure-based rate of bicycle crash injuries and identify associated risk and protective factors, and  to assess the role of conspicuity in bicycle crashes involving a motor vehicle. Methods This research was based on the Taupo Bicycle Study, a prospective cohort study involving 2628 adult cyclists (aged 16 years and over). The participants were recruited from the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge (New Zealand’s largest mass cycling event) in 2006 (N=2438) and in 2008 (N=190) using a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire asked about demographic characteristics, general cycling activity and crash experience in the past twelve months and habitual use of injury preventive measures with options ranging from never to always. Bicycle crash outcome …
abstract: Background Regular cycling provides health, environmental and economic benefits but is rarely part of everyday travel for many people. The real and perceived risk of injury is commonly cited as a significant deterrent to engaging in such activity and is sometimes associated with the danger of motorised traffic. Bicycle-motor vehicle collisions often result from the driver’s failure to detect the cyclist in time, suggesting that conspicuity may be a contributing factor. Conspicuity can be categorised into physical conspicuity and attention conspicuity. The former may be enhanced by using conspicuity aids whereas the latter may be improved through the safety in numbers effect. In New Zealand, one of the most car-dependent countries, bicycling is marginalised and receives relatively little attention in the transport and road safety research agenda. As a result, there is insufficient evidence regarding bicycle travel, injury risk and associated factors to guide education and policy. Aims This thesis comprises three main components – bicycle travel, injury risk and conspicuity and aims:  to investigate the prevalence of bicycle travel, particularly for a trip to work, and identify associated enablers and barriers,  to estimate the exposure-based rate of bicycle crash injuries and identify associated risk and protective factors, and  to assess the role of conspicuity in bicycle crashes involving a motor vehicle. Methods This research was based on the Taupo Bicycle Study, a prospective cohort study involving 2628 adult cyclists (aged 16 years and over). The participants were recruited from the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge (New Zealand’s largest mass cycling event) in 2006 (N=2438) and in 2008 (N=190) using a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire asked about demographic characteristics, general cycling activity and crash experience in the past twelve months and habitual use of injury preventive measures with options ranging from never to always. Bicycle crash outcome …
author: Tin Tin, Sandar
license: https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm
date published: 2015
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:06:10Z
provider: University of Auckland
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: ResearchSpace@Auckland

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2292/25206