Safety in Numbers? The Effect of Increasing Numbers of Bicycle Commuters on Bicycle-Automobile Collisions

Author

Luke Anderson, The University of Montana

Year of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Economics

Department or School/College

Department of Economics

Committee Chair

Helen Naughton

Commitee Members

Douglas Dalenberg, Elizabeth Metcalf

Keywords

Bicycle Commuting, Bicycle Safety, Pedestrian Safety, Safety in Numbers

Abstract

The idea that increasing the numbers of bicycle and pedestrians in an area lowers the automobile collision risk for individual cyclists and pedestrians is called the safety in numbers effect. This paper applies the safety in numbers effect to bicycling and pedestrian commuters in California cities from 2005 to 2011. The results indicate that cities with 10% more bicycle commuters will only see about 6% more collisions between cyclists and automobiles and thus have a lower average risk to bicycle commuters. These results are similar to those found by Jacobson (2003) although this study uses a multiple regression analysis on an expanded data set.

Recommended Citation

Anderson, Luke, "Safety in Numbers? The Effect of Increasing Numbers of Bicycle Commuters on Bicycle-Automobile Collisions" (2013). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 854.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/854