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Cyclists’ Anger As Determinant of Near Misses Involving Different Road Users
Abstract and Figures
Road anger constitutes one of the determinant factors related to safety outcomes (e.g. accidents, near misses). Although cyclists are considered vulnerable road users due to their relatively high rate of fatalities in traffic, previous research has solely focused on car drivers, and no study has yet investigated the effect of anger on cyclists’ safety outcomes. The present research aims to investigate, for the first time, the effects of cycling anger toward different types of road users on near misses involving such road users and near misses in general. Using a daily diary web-based questionnaire, we collected data about daily trips, bicycle use, near misses experienced, cyclist’s anger and demographic information from 254 Spanish cyclists. Poisson regression was used to assess the association of cycling anger with near misses, which is a count variable. No relationship was found between general cycling anger and near misses occurrence. Anger towards specific road users had different effects on th
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... However, the anger experienced and expressed by different traffic participants like drivers or cyclists are related to each other but not the same. They partly differ with respect to their reasons, but also their measurements and outcomes are not the same (Mar ın Puchades et al. 2017). For example, Møller and Haustein (2017) found lower levels of verbal and total anger expression for cyclists compared to car drivers and equal levels of constructive and physical aggression among both groups of road users. ...
... In addition, professional bike messengers reported lower levels of cycling anger than nonprofessionals (Oehl et al. 2019b). The result of cycling anger may also be an increased number of near misses (Mar ın Puchades et al. 2017). Anger toward pedestrians, for example, increased the probability of near misses with pedestrians and anger toward car drivers increased the probability of experiencing near misses with bicycles and pedestrians (Mar ın Puchades et al. 2017). ...
Objectives
Emotions can be dangerous companions in road traffic for vehicle drivers and cyclists in particular. It is therefore important to reliably assess emotions like anger in road traffic. The first objective of the present paper is to examine whether the cycling anger scale (CAS) can be used to assess Singaporean Cyclists’ anger experiences in traffic. In addition, it relates the cycling anger measure to similar constructs like driving anger (DAS), and the cyclists’ experiences of trait anger in general in order to further examine the validity of the CAS scale.
Methods
In an online survey, we distributed the English versions of the Cycling Anger Scale (CAS), the Driving Anger Scale (DAS), and the Trait Anger Scale (TAS) to a sample of 116 cyclists from Singapore. We then analyzed the psychometric properties of the CAS. In addition, we correlated cyclists’ CAS ratings with their DAS ratings, TAS ratings, and demographic variables. Finally, we compared cycling anger ratings across cultures.
Results
With respect to the first objective, we found that the Cycling Anger Scale can be applied to cyclists from Singapore given very minor modifications. Regarding our second objective, we obtained substantial correlations between cycling anger experience, driving anger experience, and general anger experience. In addition, cyclists’ CAS ratings were related to their demographic variables but not to their self-reported aggressive cycling behavior. The cross-cultural comparison revealed that cyclists from Singapore experience less anger than cyclists from other cultures.
Conclusions
We conclude that we could show the validity of the CAS for cyclists from Singapore. Researchers and practitioners who are interested in safer cycling can apply the CAS in Singapore. In line with other studies, we also conclude that cycling anger experience is related to driving anger experience and general trait anger. However, cycling anger does not seem to be related to self-reported aggressive cycling.
... Health benefits include the reduc-53 tion of chronic diseases, increased cardiovascular fitness, increased muscle strength and flexibility, improved mental health, 54 among others. Despite the known benefits, cyclists are still at high risks of being involved in serious and fatal collisions 55 (Puchades et al., 2017). Concerns about the risk of being hit by a car in a shared road space deter the widespread of bicycling 56 as a competing mode choice of transportation (Sanders, 2015). ...
Cycling is an eco-friendly and sustainable mode of transportation. Despite its benefits, the cyclists’ risk of collision is still high when interacting with other road users. This study analyzed self-reported near-miss and collision event descriptions for the United States provided by the crowdsourcing platform, BikeMaps.org. Innovative and efficient analytic methods are needed to generate useful information from unstructured textual data sources in the transportation domain. In this study, explorative text mining, topic modeling, and machine learning are utilized to gain insights from the unstructured textual descriptions of crowdsourced near-miss and collision events. The approaches are used to unveil prevalent words and word associations for near-miss and collision events. Structural Topic Modeling (STM) is deployed to autogenerate latent themes or topics from the event descriptions. The generated topic proportions are used as input in Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to estimate the cyclist’s propensity to a collision. It was found that cyclists had a higher propensity to a collision in topics that articulated vehicle encroachment to the bike lane, on-street parking close or into the bike lane resulting in dooring, and drivers’ violations at the crosswalk. The results and methodology used in this study can assist engineers, policymakers, and law enforcement officers to proactively reduce potential cyclist collisions, prioritizing areas where cyclist safety improvements are needed, and ultimately promoting bicycle ridership in our communities.
... For example, Poulos et al. (2017) show that 72% of near misses for cyclists involved motor vehicles, and researchers in Hungary found that cyclists were not responsible in the vast majority of traffic incidents (99.6% of 7889 cases) (Glász and Juhász, 2017). Additionally, cyclists' individual "good" behaviours, such as wearing a helmet, did not appreciably reduce severe injuries or deaths in cycling crashes, and "bad" behaviours like listening to music, exceeding speed limits and having "road anger" were not found to have a significant effect on producing crashes (Dagher et al., 2016;Puchades et al., 2017;Silvano et al., 2016;Stelling-Konczak et al., 2017). In that sense, some of the research that has tried to measure the effect of individual behaviour changes has not always had the most encouraging results. ...
While there has been sustained growth in cycling as an urban mean of transport over the last two decades, it has often been accompanied by an increase in traffic crashes and deaths involving cyclists (Broe et al., 2017; Loreta et al., 2016). Many of the recommendations proposed to reduce such negative consequences rely primarily on individual behavioural changes or segregating infrastructure; however, the positive impacts of such actions are not yet proven (Dozza, 2017; Shinar et al., 2018). While these actions are certainly necessary, it has been proposed that more collective and long-standing changes in policy, education and law can be even more beneficial for cycling safety (Jacobsen, 2003; Marqués and Hernández-Herrador, 2017). Research considering social, spatial and economic disparities and their relation to urban cycling is very scarce within cycling studies and has the potential to benefit cycling safety by expanding its underlying understanding (Brown, 2016). Additionally, qualitative approaches such as the analysis of media representations of cycling safety events have only recently started attracting attention from researchers (Macmillan et al., 2016). Furthermore, there is a clear disproportion between research about cycling safety undertaken in Europe, Oceania and North America when compared to the rest of the world – in particular, Latin America. While debates around transport and inequalities are prevalent in Latin American cities, limited attention has been paid to cycling. In this study, through the analysis of secondary data and media coverage of traffic crashes involving cyclists in Bogotá, Colombia, it is proposed that cycling safety research can benefit from including analysis of social, economic and spatial inequalities as well as media representation. Preliminary results show that spatial inequality in cycling safety is expressed in at least three ways: disparities in cycling infrastructure allocation by city planners; concentration of traffic crashes resulting in cyclists' deaths in low income areas; and disproportion in media coverage of cyclists' deaths in traffic according to their locations.
... As a relatively new scale, the CAS so far has only had a few applications. Puchades, Pratl, Rondlnella, Angells, Fassina, Frabonl et al. (2017) used the scale to explore the effects of cycling anger on Spanish cyclists' involvement in general near-misses and those involving different road users. O'Hern, Stephens, Young and Koppel (2019) validated the scale in a sample of Australian cyclists, and examined its relationship with cyclists' cycling interests as well as comfort levels. ...
As vulnerable road users, cyclists are suffering from a disproportionate burden of crash injuries and fatalities. Road anger has been demonstrated as an important precursor of unsafe behaviors and crash-related outcomes for drivers. However, little attention has been paid to road anger experienced by cyclists and less is known about how cyclists' road anger would impact their road safety, especially in middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Cycling Anger Scale (CAS) in a Chinese sample, and to explore the road anger experienced by Chinese cyclists as well as international differences regarding cycling anger. A further aim was to investigate the relationship between cycling anger and cyclists' demographics, gender roles, cycling-related experience, risky riding as well as aggressive riding. The survey was operated with an online questionnaire. A total of 442 cyclists were included in the final sample. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the original four-factor solution of the 14-item CAS. The overall cycling anger and anger in different situations reported by Chinese cyclists significantly differed from those of German and Australian cyclists. Cyclists with a stronger masculine identity reported a higher level of cycling anger, and those who cycled for over 20 km per week were less likely to be provoked by interactions with cars, cyclists and pedestrians. Cyclists who had been involved in crashes over the past three months reported a higher level of anger towards car interaction. Besides, both risky riding and aggressive riding were significantly correlated with cycling anger, and the two types of behaviors were predicted by different aspects of cycling anger. This study again demonstrates that the CAS is a reliable and valuable tool to measure cyclists' road anger, and the results can aid in designing evidence-based interventions for cycling anger in China.
... In agreement with the literature [21,25], risky cycling behaviors were the strongest predictor of cyclists' crash risk in this study, implying that cyclists who commit more violations and cycling errors have a higher propensity to be involved in adverse outcomes such as near-misses and road crashes. Moreover, cycling anger, one of the personality traits, also directly predicted cyclists' crash risk when the effects of demographics and cycling behaviors were controlled, in consistence with previous studies where road anger has been identified as a proximal construct to crash-related outcomes for cyclists and drivers [39,71]. The results indicate that cycling anger not only increases the occurrence of crash-related circumstances through impelling cyclists to engage in more risk-taking behaviors, but also adds to crash risk in a direct manner. ...
In recent years, the increasing rate of road crashes involving cyclists with a disproportionate overrepresentation in injury statistics has become a major concern in road safety and public health. However, much remains unknown about factors contributing to cyclists’ high crash rate, especially those related to personal characteristics. This study aimed to explore the influence of cyclists’ personality traits and cycling behaviors on their road safety outcomes using a mediated model combining these constructs. A total of 628 cyclists completed an online questionnaire consisting of questions related to cycling anger, impulsiveness, normlessness, sensation seeking, risky cycling behaviors and involvement in crash-related conditions in the past year. After the psychometric properties of the employed scales were examined, the relationship among the tested constructs was investigated using structural equation modeling. The results showed that cyclists’ crash risk was directly predicted by risky cycling behaviors and cycling anger, and the effects of cycling anger, impulsiveness as well as normlessness on crash risk were mediated by cycling behaviors. The current findings provide insight into the importance of personality traits in impacting cycling safety and could facilitate the development of evidence-based prevention and promotion strategies targeting cyclists in China.
... Largely because of the obvious consequences of dangerous driving (e.g., motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in early adults; Bumgarner, Webb, & Dula, 2016), aggressive driving and driving anger have received considerable attention in the scientific literature. Researchers have focused on everything from how to deal with road rage (Slovenko, 2016) to how cyclists' anger predicts their safety outcomes (Marín Puchades et al., 2017). Recent research has revealed that aggressive expressions of anger tend to increase as population density increases and that males are most often involved in such interactions (Møller & Haustein, 2018). ...
Despite clear interpersonal, physiological, behavioral, and emotional consequences, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition ( DSM-5) and most abnormal psychology textbooks inadequately describe maladaptive anger. Although there is no recent published research on coverage of maladaptive anger in psychology courses, it is reasonable to assume that coverage is lacking, especially compared to coverage of other emotion-rooted disorders like sadness and anxiety. This lack of coverage is particularly troubling, given that researchers have long recognized the potential problems that stem from maladaptive anger and have also developed many approaches for treating problematic anger. This article describes the absence of anger disorders in the DSM-5, outlines the rationale for covering anger in psychology courses, and provides best practices for such coverage.
... It would contribute to both a more peaceful coexistence among pedestrians and a reduction of accidents in this collective. Fourth, anger should be analyzed in other road users, as bicyclists (Marín Puchades et al., 2017). It would allow analyzing the interaction among every kind of road users regarding anger experience. ...
Anger has been closely related to risky behavior, and this last has been related to road accidents. The current research aimed to develop and validate a self-report questionnaire to measure anger in pedestrians (n = 550, 40.73% male) of a wide age rage (14–65 years, M = 27.91, SD = 13.21). The Parallel Analysis showed that the 15 items of the Pedestrian Anger Scale fitted satisfactorily in a four-factor solution: Anger because of obstructions or slowdowns caused by other pedestrians (α = .79), Anger because of hostility from drivers (α = .64), Anger because of bad conditions of the infrastructure (α = .62), and Anger because of dangerous situations caused by vehicles (α = .71). The global scale had also
a good internal consistency (α = .83). Further analyses suggested convergent, divergent and incremental validity by correlating the global score of the questionnaire with both risk and anger measures. Middle-aged people (19–30 years) scored higher in anger as pedestrians than eldest (> 45 years), η2 = .02, but no significant effect were obtained by gender. Practical implications from both clinical and road safety viewpoints are discussed, and both future research proposals and limitations of the current study are also commented.
As vulnerable traffic participants, electric bike (EB) riders have suffered from high collision casualties in recent years. Road user anger has been shown to affect riding behavior and lead to traffic accidents. Besides, studies have highlighted that there may be differences in road user anger in driving different vehicles due to varying perceptions of the relative vulnerability of vehicle type characteristics (control performance and cognitive processes). However, current road user anger investigations for two-wheelers have focused mainly on conventional cyclists, and little attention has been paid to e-bike riders, especially with the emerging group of delivery e-bike (DEB) riders. This study aims to develop a Cycling Anger Scale (CAS) for EB riders based on the Cycling Anger Scale and explore the road user anger experienced by EB riders and the differences between ordinary and delivery EB riders. The survey was conducted in Nanjing, China, and collected from 281 Ordinary EB (OEB) riders and 268 DEB riders. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis are conducted to determine the revised four-factor structure of the 14-item CAS for EB. The results show that the scores of police interaction and cyclist interaction on the CAS subscales are significantly different between the OEB and DEB groups. The police interaction is the largest source of anger for both groups. Besides, the aggressive riding behaviors are significantly correlated with riding anger, which can be predicted by different aspects of riding anger for the two types of EB riders. This study provides a theoretical basis for designing intervention measures and safety education programs to enhance EB riders’ road safety.
This chapter provides an overview of the literature about selected interactions between cyclists, pedestrians, motorists, heavy-duty vehicles, busses, pedestrians in urban areas. Hydén's Safety Pyramid is used as a framework for organizing interactions as frequent, inconsequential encounters, potential, slight and serious conflicts or crashes with varying levels of severity. The interactions are organized in this chapter by where they occur and by the interacting road user. First, cyclists’ interactions on road segments are investigated, focusing on cyclist-pedestrian interactions, interactions between cyclists and passing motorists, interactions at bus stops, and interactions between cyclists. Interactions that take place at intersections are then explored and the gap acceptance of cyclists and motorists and the problematic interactions between cyclists and heavy-duty vehicles are examined. Finally, a short overview of interactions in shared space is given. Most of the literature concerns dangerous interactions between cyclists and other road users or those at the top of Hydén's Safety Pyramid. Fewer studies were found that investigate normal encounters and the potential benefits of interacting. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the mechanisms behind dangerous interactions in general and what can be done by urban and infrastructure planners, traffic and vehicle engineers, and developers of technologies to transform dangerous interactions into normal encounters.
While cyclist aggression is relatively rare, it has been associated with increased crash risk. Previous measures of cyclist aggression have not taken into consideration who the recipient of the aggression may be; this is likely to differ across road user types. The aim of this study was to understand if cyclists' aggression differs according to whether the recipient is a driver, pedestrian or another cyclist. To examine this, 1206 cyclists (males = 75 %; age range 18-80 years; M = 47.35 ± 11.81) completed the Cycling Anger Expression Inventory (CAX; Møller and Haustein, 2017) three times; once for each road user type. Respondents also provided information regarding their cycling anger tendencies. Open text responses regarding sources of, and responses to, anger were also sought. The measurement invariance of the three CAX models was examined to determine whether the items were interpreted in a similar manner for interactions with each road user type and to compare latent factor means. The results showed that verbal aggression was not the same across road users. However, adaptive constructive ways of dealing with anger were similar across the three types of recipients. Comparison of latent means showed that cyclists reported higher expressions of anger toward drivers than cyclists or pedestrians. Qualitative analysis of the text responses suggest this is due to the perceived risk posed by drivers combined with positive attitudes expressed towards sharing infrastructure with pedestrians and other cyclists. Based on these findings it was concluded that: i) the CAX might best be used with reference to drivers, rather than "road users", and ii) while aggression in cyclists is rare, it is more common toward drivers than other road users.
Cycling anger defined as the propensity of cyclists to become angry in traffic is a concept so far rather neglected in research. Research on emotions in traffic has been focusing rather on car drivers than on cyclists. On the basis of previous qualitative research a questionnaire was developed assessing cyclists’ anger experience in interaction with their cycling environment. This current study aimed at a further validation of the Cycling Anger Scale (CAS) using different samples of cyclists (regular cyclists vs. professional bicycle messengers). Factor analyses proposed again four subscales of the CAS, i.e., police interaction, car interaction, cyclist interaction, and pedestrian interaction. Cross-validation supported these results. Alpha reliabilities were acceptable to good. The CAS correlated significantly with the Driving Anger Scale for car drivers and with the general State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory suggesting convergent validity and providing a complementary instrument for measuring cycling anger in traffic. Bicycle messengers experienced generally less anger than regular cyclists. For both cyclist groups significant correlations between cycling anger and self-reported risky cycling behaviour was observed. The CAS provides a valid and efficient measure assessing cyclists’ anger experience in traffic. Its application in research and applied issues, i.e., aggression prevention, will be discussed.
Cyclists, while relatively small in proportion with respect to motorized vehicles, have a high level of vulnerability, creating a significant need to better understand the characteristics specific to this user group. A good insight into the problem provides an opportunity to improve the road safety of this cheap, convenient and environmentally friendly mode of transport. In 2013, more than 2.000 cyclists were killed in road traffic accidents in 27 EU countries, constituting almost 8% of all road accident fatalities for that year. Although a considerable decrease by 32% in the total number of bicycle fatalities in noted within the decade 2004–2013, it is still smaller than the respective reduction of the overall road fatalities by 45%. The objective of this research is the analysis of basic road safety parameters related to cyclists in European countries, by the use of the EU CARE database with disaggregate data on road accidents, as well as of other international data sources (OECD/IRTAD, Eurostat, etc.). Time-series data on road accidents involving cyclists from 27 EU countries over a period of 10 years (2004–2013) are correlated with basic safety parameters, such as road type, season of the year, age and gender. Data from the EU Injury Database are used to identify injury patterns and improve the assessment of injury severity, and additional insight into accident causation for cyclists is offered through the use of in-depth accident data from the EC SafetyNet project Accident Causation System. The results of the analysis allow for an overall assessment of the cyclists safety level in Europe in comparison to other modes of transport, thus providing useful support to decision makers working for the improvement of safety in the European road network.
This study investigates the direct and indirect effect of three types of unsafe behaviours (i.e. errors, generic violations and smartphone-specific violations) on the likelihood of near crashes and actual crashes among Italian cyclists. We considered smartphone-specific violations as a different unsafe behaviour subtype that enhances the probability of committing errors, thus increasing the likelihood of being involved in near crashes. Furthermore, we hypothesized that near crashes will predict actual crashes. Results revealed that errors predicted near crashes, whereas generic and smartphone-specific violations did not. Near crashes mediated the effect of errors on crashes. Moreover, smartphone-specific violations predicted crashes throughout its consecutive effects on errors and near crashes. These findings contribute to deepen our understanding of the relationship between cyclists’ unsafe behaviours, near crashes and actual crashes. To our knowledge, the present study is the first that links errors to near crashes among cyclists.
In the social sciences, several definitions of minority group can be found. The definitions include different aspects such as power/status, number, distinctiveness, social category, group context, dispositions, and discrimination. Compared to motorized road users, cyclists are considered vulnerable road users because they lack physical protection. We argue that such definition does not capture the social and cultural aspects that characterize the membership within the group of cyclists. We offer arguments and reflections based on recent literature advocating that cyclists may share some features of the experience of minority groups. Although cyclists differ from other minorities in important respects, they manifest many of the characteristics by which minority groups are defined.
Driver anger is an important individual difference variable that has been investigated extensively for understanding driving outcomes. The Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX – i.e., physical, verbal, use of vehicle as an aggression tool, and adaptive/constructive practices) and the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ – i.e., errors, lapses, and violations) are common outcome measures for investigating how people express their anger while driving. The current study aims to conduct a meta-analytic review of other individual differences (e.g., Big Five, narcissism, impulsiveness) and several outcome variables (i.e., DAX, DBQ) associated with driving anger, measured using the driving anger scale (DAS). It synthesized information from 48 studies using the meta-analytic approach in the scope of the Contextual Mediated Model (Lajunen, 1997; Sümer, 2003). The results suggested that impulsiveness, normlessness, and narcissism have stronger associations with driving anger than the Big Five personality factors. In addition, driving anger had significant associations with both the types of anger expression (i.e., physical aggression, verbal aggression) and aberrant driver behavior factors (i.e., violations, errors). Specifically, the DAS had stronger associations with the driving anger expression (DAX) factors than with the aberrant driving behavior (DBQ) factors. Moreover, the relationship between the DAS and the violations factor of the DBQ was stronger than the relationship between the DAS and the other DBQ factors. The implications of the findings for both research and practice are discussed.
Relying on accident records as the main data source for studying cyclists’ safety has many drawbacks, such as high degree of under-reporting, the lack of accident details and particularly of information about the interaction processes that led to the accident. It is also an ethical problem as one has to wait for accidents to happen in order to make a statement about cyclists’ (un-)safety. In this perspective, the use of surrogate safety measures based on actual observations in traffic is very promising. In this study we used video data from three intersections in Norway that were all independently analysed using three methods: the Swedish traffic conflict technique (Swedish TCT), the Dutch conflict technique (DOCTOR) and the probabilistic surrogate measures of safety (PSMS) technique developed in Canada. The first two methods are based on manual detection and counting of critical events in traffic (traffic conflicts), while the third considers probabilities of multiple trajectories for each interaction and delivers a density map of potential collision points per site. Due to extensive use of microscopic data, PSMS technique relies heavily on automated tracking of the road users in video. Across the three sites, the methods show similarities or are at least “compatible” with the accident records. The two conflict techniques agree quite well for the number, type and location of conflicts, but some differences with no obvious explanation are also found. PSMS reports many more safety-relevant interactions including less severe events. The location of the potential collision points is compatible with what the conflict techniques suggest, but the possibly significant share of false alarms due to inaccurate trajectories extracted from video complicates the comparison. The tested techniques still require enhancement, with respect to better adjustment to analysis of the situations involving cyclists (and vulnerable road users in general) and further validation. However, we believe this to be a future direction for the road safety analysis as the number of accidents is constantly decreasing and the quality of accident data does not seem to improve.
Through the use of meta-analysis, this study investigated the relationships between driving anger and five types of driving outcomes (aggressive driving, risky driving, driving errors, near misses and accidents). The moderating effects of three variables (age, study publication year, and participants' country of origin) on these relationships were also examined. A total of 51 studies published over the past two decades met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The results showed that driving anger significantly predicted all three types of aberrant driving, with zero-order correlations of 0.312, 0.243, and 0.179 with aggressive driving, risky driving and driving errors, respectively. The correlations between driving anger and accident-related conditions, though at relatively weaker levels, were still statistically significant. Tests for effects of the moderating variables suggested that driving anger was a stronger predictor of risky driving among young drivers than among old drivers. Also, the anger-aggression association was found to decrease over time and vary across countries. The implications of the results and the directions for future research are discussed.
