Bicycle safety

Media Narratives of Pedestrian & Bicyclist-Involved Crashes

Polovin, Marta
2020
Pedestrian & bicyclist-involved crashes have been increasing throughout the United States. Previous research has shown that media and popular discourse disproportionately blames pedestrians and cyclists for their own injuries and/or deaths, while obscuring the role of motorists in these crashes and ignoring the broader road safety context (like infrastructure and speed limits). Recent research highlights how media framing of these crashes can affect perceptions of cause, influencing public opinion about responsibility and consequences, and demonstrates the need for comprehensive and...

Commercial vehicles, fatigue, parking and safety

Gosselin, Katherine
2020
For commercial drivers, operator fatigue and parking in undesignated areas can result in dangerous collisions. Exacerbating this issue is a lack of freight truck parking, making it difficult for truck operators to find a safe spot when in need of rest. For bicyclists and pedestrians, loading and unloading commercial vehicles in downtowns also present hazards. Increasing the availability of legal truck parking could improve safety for all road users.

2020 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Bicycle Safety

Chen, Katherine L.
Tsai, Bor-Wen
Fortin, Garrett
Cooper, Jill F.
2020

Bicycling is becoming more popular across the country for commuting, exercise, and leisure. However, in the event of a traffic crash between a motor vehicle and a bicyclist, the bicyclist is the more vulnerable party and more likely to be injured or killed than a motor vehicle occupant. In 2018, there were 857 bicyclists killed in a traffic crash in the United States. In citing concern about the level of bicycle fatalities, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) identified key recommendations for improving safety, including collection of better crash data, increased training for...

New Release: California Traffic Safety Survey 2020

July 22, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

UC Berkeley SafeTREC is excited to release the California Traffic Safety Survey 2020 led by Ewald & Wasserman Research Consultants (E&W). This study was conducted on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley.

Overview of the 2020 Study

The California Statewide Public Opinion Traffic Study is an annual cross-sectional survey of California drivers ages 18 and over regarding their opinions on traffic safety issues such as speeding, distracted driving,...

Media Narratives of Pedestrian & Bicyclist-Involved Crashes

May 20, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

UC Berkeley SafeTREC is excited to share a new research highlight by graduate student researcher Marta Polovin, "Media Narratives of Pedestrian & Bicyclist-Involved Crashes."

New research highlight focuses on how media and popular discourse factor into traffic safety perspectives and outcomes. Pedestrian & bicyclist-involved crashes have been increasing throughout the United States. Previous research has shown that media and popular discourse disproportionately blames pedestrians and cyclists for their own injuries and/or deaths, while obscuring the role of motorists in these...

Register now for Sharing Stories and Strategies: A Collective Discussion About COVID-19 Challenges

May 4, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON
Join Us for the Next Focus Cities Webinar!

Image of volunteers with donated food bags for KidWorks and congregation families

DATE: Tuesday, May 12, 2020
TIME: 10am - 11am PDT
REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/FCMay12Webinar

Join...

New resource: CPBST Program Workshop Follow-Up Survey Highlights

April 28, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

According to the latest traffic safety data from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), while traffic fatalities have decreased 8.3% from 3,884 in 2017 to 3,563 in 2018, the safety for those walking and biking in our communities continues to be a concern. In 2018, there were 893 pedestrian fatalities (a 5% decrease from 2017) and 155 bicyclist fatalities (an increase of 6.89% from 2017). Ensuring that our communities are safe for walking, biking and rolling is key for community health...

New Features Added to Street Story Tool

April 20, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

Exciting news! Features around micromobility and infrastructure improvements have been added to UC Berkeley SafeTREC’s Street Story, an online community engagement tool that allows residents, community groups and agencies to collect information about transportation collisions, near-misses, general hazards and safe locations to travel. This information is publicly accessible in downloadable maps and tables, and can be easily recorded and shared with community partners....

Bicycle Crash Corridors

A Data-Driven Method to Define and Identify Bicycle Crash Corridors
Research Team:

Dr. Aditya Medury
Dr. Offer Grembek


Funding Organization:

California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)


Study Description:

While spot safety approaches are effective and necessary, they address the safety problem in a reactive manner and on a very small scale. To complement spot identification methods, transportation safety practitioners have shown an increased interest in developing approaches that can also lead to the...

Community Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety Trainings Coming Up in March

February 28, 2020
SUBMITTED BY LISA PETERSON

Register now for an upcoming Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training (CPBST) this month in a community near you to identify priorities to make walking and biking safer for everyone - including seniors, students, parents, and people with disabilities! These workshops train neighborhood residents and health, transportation and safety advocates on how to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety to make California communities safer and more pleasant to walk and bike. Refreshments, childcare or child friendly...