Cycling is often touted as a healthy activity. For some people, this is the preferred way of getting around. Any area that has a significant cycling presence needs to ensure that those bicyclists have the ability to remain as safe as possible.
Efforts to protect bicyclists have come a long way in recent years, but not all safety measures deliver the outcome that people expect. The World Health Organization reviewed strategies and found that some popular interventions don’t have the research backing they need to confirm that they’re actually effective.
Clothing choices likely aren’t the answer
Some people believe that high-visibility clothing makes it easier to see cyclists, which will reduce accidents. While it is true that they’ll increase visibility in certain conditions, there’s no significant evidence that they would actually reduce the number of collisions. For example, it’s unlikely that a reflective vest would make any difference if a driver is distracted, fatigued or driving aggressively.
Education campaigns can fall short
You can often see slogans that say things like “share the road safely”. The issue with those campaigns is that they often don’t include significant information that can help to keep cyclists safe. It takes more than passing along information to do this.
Promising alternatives
Because the goal is to reduce bicyclist injuries and fatalities, relying on surface-level strategies isn’t going to be enough. Interventions such as dedicated bike lanes and traffic calming measures have promise; however, they’re not the end-all, be-all answer.
Understanding what doesn’t work is often the key to making room for what does work. Community leaders should shift to data-driven planning and proven strategies that can offer real protection for bicyclists.
