Do Risk-Taking Cyclists Have Different Sociodemographic Characteristics? An Observational Study at Intersections in a French City

Abstract

The increase in cycling accidents can hinder the increased use of this transportation mode. To identify the sociodemographic factors explaining risky cyclists’ behaviors is therefore important. The relationships between some sociodemographic variables (gender, age, parenthood, use of a shared versus a personal bike) and some risky behaviors (helmet use, red-light running, crossing an intersection with a very short time before the next passing vehicle) remain inconsistent or under-investigated in the literature. These relationships were therefore investigated in a French population. Cyclists ( N = 2,788) were observed at two traffic signal intersections in the city center of Lille, France. Two cameras per site were used to score each cyclist’s variables (with a minimum of intercoder reliability = 80%). Men (versus women) and young (versus older) cyclists are less likely to wear a helmet and more likely to run red lights. Cyclists with (versus without) a child seat were more likely to wear a helmet, suggesting that parenthood influences risk perception. Shared (versus personal) bike users were found to be significantly less likely to wear a helmet and more likely to run red lights. This highlights the importance of further investigating whether shared bike users are more likely to take different types of risk on the road. Various factors (psychosocial, enforcement, road design) are discussed to explain these findings and prevent risks. The importance of adapting road safety interventions to the sociodemographic characteristics of cyclists is also discussed.