Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to news
news
Crime & Legal
Infrastructure
Why do some cyclists break the law? US academic surveys 18,000 people to find outPedestrian zone cyclist.JPG

Why do some cyclists break the law? US academic surveys 18,000 people to find out

Results due out in summer - but US professor says early results are that proper infrastructure is solution
by Simon_MacMichael
Tue, Jun 02, 2015 20:46
38

Why do some cyclists choose to break the rules of the road? That’s the question an academic at the University of Colorado Denver is hoping to answer – and more than 18,000 people have participated in a survey to help him find out why.

Wesley Marshall, a professor of civil engineering at the institution, is currently sifting through the responses to his so-called Scofflaw Survey, with the results due to be published over the summer.

Already, however, he seems to be leaning towards the finding that people riding through red lights, or cycling on pavements, aren’t doing so because they are hell-bent on breaking rules – it’s because they want and need infrastructure that all too often is currently missing.

He told Colorado Public Radio: “Not all bicyclists that break the law are these hooligans that are out to be sort of anti-society. I think a lot of people do it for very practical reasons.”

He said that people on bikes are more likely to comply with road signs and traffic signals when they are aimed specifically at cyclists.

“If we give these people a system that’s built for and really meant for cars, you might see more people breaking the law,” he explained.

He went on to say that some cyclists may ignore a red light because the alternative is fighting for road space at a junction with a car.

But he cautioned that people breaking the law when on a bike are likely to be viewed in a more negative light than those who do so while driving a car.

“Everyone breaks traffic laws, “he said. “It's just that cyclists are judged more harshly.

"People speed on the way to work [while driving cars],” he added.

“And even if it's a few miles over, they are speeding; they are breaking the law.

“But society doesn't judge those people as criminals.

"With bicyclists, a lot of people feel the same way.

“They don't really think it's a big deal to go through a stop sign when there are no other cars or pedestrians around."

The sample size – comprising cyclists, motorists and pedestrians – is a large one, and because of that it’s likely that Professor Marshall’s final report will make for interesting reading.

In the meantime, cycling advocacy groups across the US are already reported to have asked Professor Marshall for localised results.

Survey
infrastructure
antisocial cycling
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

38 comments

Avatar
belgravedave | 9 years ago
0 likes

Cycling late at night come to traffic lights and the roads are deserted and no pedestrians nine times out of ten I will cycle through them. Driving home the same route the same road conditions and I stop and wait without even considering running the red lights.
Difference? Well it's nothing to do with infrastructure thats for sure. So is it conditioning and acceptability and/or the penalties involved if caught?

Avatar
samuri replied to belgravedave | 9 years ago
0 likes
belgravedave wrote:

Cycling late at night come to traffic lights and the roads are deserted and no pedestrians nine times out of ten I will cycle through them. Driving home the same route the same road conditions and I stop and wait without even considering running the red lights.
Difference? Well it's nothing to do with infrastructure thats for sure. So is it conditioning and acceptability and/or the penalties involved if caught?

I think this is part of this. The penalties for cyclists breaking the laws are *largely* nothing at all so they do it when people are watching, hence they're perceived to be rampant law breakers. Drivers on the other hand understand the penalties are more severe and will therefore restrict their (socially unacceptable) law breaking to when no-one is about. I ride to work very early in the mornings and because it's so quiet will see people driving through red lights all the time. Not just amber gambling but approach red, slow, look about, see no-one, go.

Obviously speeding is socially acceptable so most drivers do this all the time.

Avatar
ibike | 9 years ago
0 likes

When I see an adult riding a bicycle on the pavement I see a lack of cycling infrastructure.

Avatar
samuri replied to ibike | 9 years ago
0 likes
ibike wrote:

When I see an adult riding a bicycle on the pavement I see a lack of cycling infrastructure.

When I see an adult riding a bicycle on the road with the cars I see failed cycling infrastructure. 3

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to samuri | 9 years ago
0 likes
samuri wrote:
ibike wrote:

When I see an adult riding a bicycle on the pavement I see a lack of cycling infrastructure.

When I see an adult riding a bicycle on the road with the cars I see failed cycling infrastructure. 3

The failure being that there are far too many motor vehicles on the cycling infrastructure.

Avatar
ibike replied to ConcordeCX | 9 years ago
0 likes
Quote:

samuri wrote:

ibike wrote:
When I see an adult riding a bicycle on the pavement I see a lack of cycling infrastructure.

When I see an adult riding a bicycle on the road with the cars I see failed cycling infrastructure. Wink

The failure being that there are far too many motor vehicles on the cycling infrastructure.

Well yes, if you want to return to pre-1900 when the bicycle was “King of the Road” but the reality is that cars are here to stay. The only way to cater for the huge suppressed demand from people who want to cycle as a means of transport is to provide high quality cycling infrastructure (with the emphasis on high quality).

Otherwise cycling will remain a “sport” for the young and brave only, and those who do partake will face a disproportionate risk of serious injury or death.

Avatar
Ush replied to ibike | 9 years ago
0 likes
ibike wrote:

those who do partake will face a disproportionate risk of serious injury or death.

Disproportionate to what? Cycling is actually a relatively safe mode of transport.

Sometimes it seems that there is an exaggeration of the dangers of normal cycling in order to justify infrastructure.

Avatar
userfriendly replied to ibike | 9 years ago
0 likes
ibike wrote:

Well yes, if you want to return to pre-1900 when the bicycle was “King of the Road” but the reality is that cars are here to stay.

Nothing is permanent. Evolution is a concept not limited to biology, and the fuel guzzling motorcar is a dead end.

Pages

Latest Comments