Cycling has become a relatively uncommon way for children to get to and from school. Overseas research suggests that parental perception of the safety of cycling plays a role in this. The results of a study examining the relationship between child cycling behaviour and parental perception of the safety of cycling are reported and discussed. Parents of high school aged children that cycled to school (n=37) and parents that drove their high school aged children to school (n=52) completed questionnaires examining perceived hazard to high school aged cyclists from road features, the behaviour of other road users, and cyclist factors. Also examined were the risk of cycling relative to other modes, convenience and discomfort aspects of cycling mode choice, encouragement and the presence of cycle facilities, a range of temporal and historical items, the perceived probability of a high school aged child being endangered generally, and the safety of cycle routes available to children. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E212706.
Abstract