Mobile phone use while cycling: Incidence and effects on behaviour and safety (original) (raw)
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Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2014
Although it has been shown that making phone calls or sending text messages while riding a bicycle can have a negative impact on bicyclist's behaviour, in countries such as the Netherlands the operation of a mobile phone while cycling on a bicycle is not illegal and is actually quite common. In recent years conventional mobile phones with a physical keypad are increasingly being replaced by smartphones with a touch screen. The operation of a touch screen phone ironically cannot be done purely 'by touch' due to the lack of tactile feedback, and instead requires fixations on a relatively small screen. The question therefore can be asked whether the operation of touch screen telephones deteriorates cycling behaviour more than operation of a conventional mobile phone.
Effects of listening to music, and of using a handheld and handsfree telephone on cycling behaviour
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2011
The effects of listening to music on cycling behaviour were evaluated. Twenty-five participants completed a track on a bicycle while listening to music with two standard earbuds, with one earbud, and with two in-ear buds. Conditions with high tempo music and loud volume were also included in the experiment, as were two mobile phone conditions, one in which participants operated the phone hand held and one handsfree condition. Cycle speed was not affected by listening to music, but was reduced in the telephone conditions. In general the response to auditory signals worsened when participants listened to music, in particular when listening with in-earbuds loud auditory stop signals were missed in 68% of the cases. However, when listening with only one standard earbud performance was not affected. In the conditions when participants listened to high volume and to high tempo music, the auditory stop signal was also heard in significantly fewer cases. Completing a task on the mobile phone, using both handheld and handsfree sets, resulted in increased response time to an auditory stop signal and also reduced overall auditory perception. Furthermore, handsfree operation only had minor advantages opposed to hand held operation, with only response time to an auditory stop signal resulting in faster performance. This is likely to be related to the fact that both hands could be used for braking. It is concluded that listening to music worsens auditory perception, in particular if in-ear buds are used. Furthermore, both handheld and handsfree operation of mobile phones has a negative effect on perception, potentially forming a threat to cyclist traffic safety.
Sustainability
Unsafe behavior while driving contributes to road accidents. The paper addresses cyclists’ risky behavior by employing a questionnaire-based survey to a sample of n = 1136 in the metropolitan area of Mexico City. The main results are as follows: (a) 31.4% and 24.2% of the participants use a mobile phone for talking and text messaging while cycling, respectively, with males engaging in these unsafe acts more often than females; (b) a high percentage of participants are most likely to communicate with their parents, through either talking (48.9%) or text messaging (39.6%); (c) regarding the use of mobile phones for talking/texting (along with social network and gender) as predictors of a crash/fall while cycling, it was found that a one SD change in the frequency of talking while cycling increased the odds of a crash/fall by a factor of 1.198, as did a one SD increase in the frequency of texting by 1.232, while gender contributed to the outcome but not the individuals to whom cyclists...
Cycling and sounds: the impact of the use of electronic devices on cycling safety
The role of auditory perception of traffic sounds has often been stressed, especially for vulnerable road users such as cyclists or (visually impaired) pedestrians. This often in relation to two growing trends feared to negatively affect the use of auditory signals by road users: popularity of electronic devices (e.g. mobile phones, portable music players) and the number of quiet electric cars. Notwithstanding the concerns about impact of both trends on the safety of vulnerable road users, the potential safety implications of limited auditory information available while cycling have not been systematically studied yet. This paper consolidates current knowledge about the use of electronic devices in relation to cycling safety. Based on a proposed conceptual model, the paper provides a qualitative estimation of the extent to which limited availability of auditory information (caused by the use of electronic devices) while cycling constitutes a road safety hazard. Literature analysing official and self-reported crash data and research into the effects of using electronic devices on cycling performance have been used. Results suggest that the concerns about the use of electronic devices while cycling are justified. Listening to music and talking on the phone negatively influence cycling performance and self-reported crash risk. However, it is difficult to prove that these effects are (only) due to the limited availability of auditory information.
Bicyclists’ adaptation strategies when interacting with text messages in urban environments
Cognition, Technology & Work, 2018
Cyclists' use of mobile phones in traffic has typically been studied in controlled experiments. How cyclists adapt their behaviour when they are not limited to a certain set of behaviours has not been investigated to any large extent. The aims of this study are to explore how cyclists adapt when texting and listening to music in a complex urban environment, and if they compensate sufficiently to maintain safe traffic behaviour. Forty-one cyclists participated in a semi-controlled study, using their own bike and smartphone in real traffic. They were equipped with eye tracking glasses and travelled two laps completing a total of 6 km divided into six segments. For one of the laps, the cyclists were requested to listen to music. On three occasions, they received a text message to their phone, which they were supposed to handle as they normally would when cycling. Static minimum required attention measures were used to examine the influence on attention. The results show that listening to music while cycling did not affect workload, speed, SMS interaction or attention. Seven different adaptation behaviours were identified when the cyclists dealt with received text messages. One-fourth of the text messages were replied to while cycling. In general, the cyclists manage to integrate SMS interactions with their cycling behaviour. Nevertheless, there were two occasions when basic attention criteria were violated while texting, which motivate further studies.
Exploring psychological factors of mobile phone use while riding among motorcyclists in Vietnam
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2020
Mobile phone use while riding is one of the five most common risky behaviors of motorcycle riders in Vietnam. This study investigated motorcyclist's mobile phone use while riding intention and behavior based on the extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework. Based on this framework, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, habits, and health motivation underlying the rider's mobile phone use while riding intentions and behavior were included in a questionnaire and captured by direct and indirect measurements. Small-displacement motorcycle riders (N = 291) completed the extended TPB based questionnaire. An exploratory factor analysis technique identified the selected factors (e.g., attitude, habit, etc.). Moreover, Structural Equation Modeling results showed moderate to good fits to the observed data. Therefore, the results supported the utilization of extended TPB framework in identifying factors of mobile phone use while riding intention and behavior. Specifically, negative attitude, perceived behavioral control, and mobile phone use while riding habit related to the intention to use a mobile phone while riding of small-displacement motorcyclists. Meanwhile, habit and behavioral intention related to the behavior to use a mobile phone while riding of small-displacement motorcycle riders. Especially, the correlation between behavioral intention and self-reported behavior was very strong. This finding embraced previous research indicating that intention was a major motivational component of behavior. Based on the results, safety intervention implications for small-displacement motorcycle riders were discussed.
Mobile phone use among Indonesian motorcyclists: prevalence and influencing factors
Traffic Injury Prevention, 2020
Objective: Indonesia is one of many developing countries that relies on motorcycles as a major mode of transportation. Unfortunately, the widespread use of motorcycles in Indonesia coincides with a high number of motorcycle accidents which can often be attributed to unsafe behaviors of the motorcyclist. One unsafe behavior that is common and hypothetically associated with accidents is the use of a mobile phone while motorcycling. The aim of the present study was to observe the prevalence and behavior of mobile phone use among Indonesian motorcyclists and the factors that might have influenced their behavior. Methods: Five hundred Indonesian motorcyclists voluntarily participated in this study by filling out a questionnaire that gathered demographic data, motorcycling behaviors, and a statement related to what factors might influence their likelihood to use a mobile phone while motorcycling. A descriptive statistic and Structural Equation Modeling were applied in analyzing the data. Results: Results showed that the prevalence of mobile phone use among Indonesian motorcyclists was 75%. The demographic data that significantly influenced mobile phone use during motorcycling were age, education level, marital status, and number of children. Occupation, gender, and prior experiences that included accidents and tickets with fines did not influence the use of mobile phones during motorcycling. The behavioral model showed that the factors that influenced motorcyclist's intentions to avoid mobile phone use during motorcycling were attitude, perceived behavioral control, and cues to action. Conclusions: This study supports previous findings regarding the high prevalence of mobile phone use among motorcyclists in developing countries. The models implied that further investigation on intervention strategy to minimize mobile phone use during motorcycling is a necessity.
Distraction of cyclists: how does it influence their risky behaviors and traffic crashes?
PeerJ, 2018
Background. Undisputedly, traffic crashes constitute a public health concern whose impact and importance have been increasing during the past few decades. Specifically, road safety data have systematically shown how cyclists are highly vulnerable to suffering traffic crashes and severe injuries derived from them. Furthermore, although the empirical evidence is still very limited in this regard, in addition to other human factors involved in cycling crashes, distractions while cycling appear to be a major contributor to the road risk of cyclists. Objectives. The main objectives of this study were, first, to explore the prevalence and trends of cycling distractions within an international sample of bike users, and second, to determine the influence of such distractions on road crashes suffered by cyclists, simultaneously considering the explanatory role of risky behaviors (errors and traffic violations) as potentially mediating variables between cycling distractions and traffic crashes. Methods. For this cross-sectional study, we analyzed the data obtained from 1,064 cyclists—61.2% male and 38.8% female—from 20 different countries, who answered an on-line questionnaire on cycling-related features, habits, behaviors and accidents. Results. The prevalence of different cycling distractions oscillated between 34.7% and 83.6%. The most common distractions were those related to the behavior of other users, physical elements of the road, weather conditions and phone calls. Age trends and differences were also found, thus establishing a positive association between age and distractibility during cycling. Furthermore, the effect of distractions on traffic crashes of cyclists was significant when tested together with age, risk perception and risky behaviors on the road. Conclusion. The results of this study support the hypotheses that distractions have a major prevalence among bike users, and that they play a significant role in the prediction of the traffic crash rates of cyclists, through the mediation of risky behaviors.