A COMMUNITY BASED APPROACH TO BICYCLE HELMET USE COUNTS

This paper describes a new approach to site selection for bicycle helmet use counts of young cyclists. It also reports the relative effectiveness and related costs of two alternative approaches to the selection of observations for these counts. The community based (COBA) method of site selection requires asking community informants to identify locations frequented by young cyclists. In the bicycle club/map (CLMA) method, site selections are based on recommendations from cycling club members of sites where cyclists are likely to be found, and through identifying local features through examination of maps. These alternative site selection methods were compared, in relation to their total effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in locating young cyclists. Although it used fewer observer hours and found fewer sites in a sparsely populated rural county, the COBA method observed more young riders there than did the CLMA method in two densely populated urban counties. It also found between 1.9 and 4.6 times more under-16 riders per observer hour. The costs of observing a young rider were 2.9 to 7.0 times lower with the COBA method than with the CLMA method. Therefore, COBA site identification is more efficient and cost-effective than CLMA site identification.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13538047
• Corporate Authors:

  BMJ Publishing Group

  BMJ House, Tavistock Square
  London WC1H 9JR,   United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • Becker, L R
  • MANDELL, M B
  • Wood, K
  • Schmidt, E R
  • O'Hara, F
• Publication Date: 1996-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 283-5
• Serial:
  • Injury Prevention
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
  • ISSN: 1353-8047
  • EISSN: 1475-5785
  • Serial URL: http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adolescents; Bicycles; Children; Costs; Cyclists; Economic efficiency; Helmets; Location; Methodology; Protective clothing; Surveillance; Traffic counts
• Uncontrolled Terms: Efficiency
• ITRD Terms: 1748: Adolescent; 1211: Bicycle; 1758: Child; 224: Cost; 1687: Crash helmet; 1742: Cyclist; 5911: Efficiency; 9061: Location; 9102: Method; 9101: Surveillance; 689: Traffic count
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00736408
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: May 30 1997 12:00AM