Bicycle helemt wearing
Description
Bicyclists are one of the most vulnerable groups of road users. The reasons for this are the relatively high speed and the proximity of motor vehicles. In contrast, a cyclist has little protection; he does not have a vehicle body around him and usually wears only ordinary clothing. Wearing a bicycle helmet significantly reduces the risk of severe head injuries in the event of an accident. As we found out in a survey, most cyclists are aware of this. Nevertheless, they often refrain from wearing a bicycle helmet, among other things, because they mistakenly consider the risk to be low for short distances. Wearing a helmet is considered to be uncomfortable, and carrying it around is considered to be inconvenient. In a behavioral community intervention, we distributed stickers showing the Bavarian Prime Minister wearing a bicycle helmet to bicyclists (students and employees) who parked their bicycles in front of or rode away from the university building. Through this intervention, we immediately achieved a doubling to tripling of the percentage of cyclists wearing helmets. This success was briefly maintained after the intervention, although the proportion decreased again over time.
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Participants were cyclists who arrived at or left the university campus during the observation periods. The participants were (according to the observers) students, administrative staff, and teachers at the university. Personal data on the cyclists was not recorded, only whether the person was wearing a bicycle helmet (when riding) or carrying one (when pushing or parking the bicycle). Further explanations of who was counted as a cyclist can be found below under "dependent variables." The observers estimated that some of the individuals observed at the various observation sessions were the same, while others were different. Due to the nature of the study (behavioral community intervention) and the fact that no personal data was collected, it was decided to waive informed consent. The study took place in front of the university's main building. There are two places where cyclists can park their bikes. One is to the left of the main entrance, and the other is directly opposite the entrance, on the other side of the road that runs in front of the university building. The dependent variable was the percentage of cyclists (students and staff) who wear helmets. Only individuals who rode or pushed an object meeting the following criteria were counted: Vehicles had to be clearly recognizable as bicycles, including two-wheeled pedal-powered vehicles without a motor and pedal-powered vehicles with a supporting electric motor (e-bikes) with wheels aligned in a single line. People on scooters, electric scooters, motorcycles, and similar vehicles were not counted. Every cyclist entering the observation areas (the two places where cyclists can park their bikes) was counted. A helmet wearer was defined as any person wearing a helmet or, if they were pushing the bike, carrying the helmet with them (e.g., in a bike basket). Non-helmet wearers were all cyclists who did not fall into either of these categories. The percentage of helmet wearers was calculated as follows: helmet wearers / (helmet wearers + non-helmet wearers) x 100 After the assessment, an A-B design with follow-up measurements was carried out. Observations took place from Monday to Thursday (excluding holidays) during the 15-minute breaks between lectures. Observations were made during one or more breaks each day, depending on the observers' availability. The observers took up a position from which they had a good view of the two bicycle parking spaces (the two observation areas). A counter app was used on the smartphone to count helmet- and non-helmet wearers. This had the advantage that the observers appeared to be a person who was busy with their smartphones. The observers did not usually interact with the participants (the cyclists) during the baseline observations unless they were acquaintances (in which case the interaction was kept as brief as possible so that the observer was not interrupted).