Study finds drivers who cycle or understand recommended cyclist road positioning are less likely to blame cyclists for close passes

A newly published study has examined how drivers view close passes on cyclists, researchers looking into the effect of cycling experience, knowledge of recommended cyclist road positioning, and a driver's tendency to express anger behind the wheel on the way an individual perceives close pass incidents.

The academic research comes from Anglia Ruskin University's Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, and School of Psychology and Sport Science, and has been published in January 2024's volume of 'Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour'.

The paper — the work of William Cubbin, Kjell van Paridon, Helen Keyes and Matthew Timmis — titled 'Close passes caught on camera – How knowledge and behavioural norms relate to perceptions of liability when cars overtake cyclists', examines responses from a sample of 239 UK drivers when shown eight video clips of close pass incidents submitted by cyclists as driving complaints to Essex Police in 2020. (Please note images used in this story are for illustration purposes only and do not show footage used in the study).

Researchers recorded the survey participants' "road use habits", including their self-defined identity on a driver-cyclist spectrum, and knowledge of recommended practice for bicycle positioning. It also identified a 'Driver Anger eXpression' (DAX) for each participant, essentially noting tendencies towards different forms of anger expression when driving, including those who use vehicle manoeuvres to express anger (such as through punishment passes).

The study found that drivers who were not cyclists apportioned greater liability to cyclists seen being close passed in the video footage. Furthermore, participants whose 'vehicleDAX' score (rating tendency to use vehicle manoeuvres to express anger when driving) was greater were less likely to agree that the close passes shown were dangerous.

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Similarly, drivers with greater knowledge of recommended cyclist road positioning apportioned lower levels of liability to the cyclists being close passed than those drivers with less knowledge, suggesting that greater communication of the Highway Code and recommended safe practice for cyclists could improve drivers' attitudes on close passes.

"This is the first time that naturalistic footage reported by cyclists to police has been used to examine differing perceptions of the same close pass event," the researchers explained. "Findings show a need to share knowledge about cycling practice in order to help drivers navigate cycle traffic safely and considerately. This can inform road safety interventions that can contribute to safer cycling and driver behaviours that are more welcoming to existing and potential cyclists.

"The data shows that drivers who do not also ride a pedal cycle will apportion more liability to a cyclist reporting a close pass, than drivers who also cycle themselves. It also shows that drivers with a stronger tendency for expressing anger through vehicle manoeuvres will view close pass incidents as being of lower risk and attribute more liability to the cyclist, compared to the views of other drivers.

"Finally it has shown that better knowledge of recommended cyclist road positioning is a mediating factor that reduces the level of liability apportioned by drivers to cyclists who experience a close pass." 

Of the 293 participants, 68 per cent were male and 32 per cent female. 15 per cent identified themselves as never cycling, while 7.5 per cent said they never drive. 49 per cent were 'more driver than cyclist'.

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From a longlist of 85 close pass clips sent to Essex Police in 2020, the videos selected all showed a cyclist riding in accordance with the Highway Code who was passed by the driver of a motor vehicle from behind, and "represented a range of road widths, lateral clearances given by the motor vehicle and both presence and absence of temporary narrowing".

Participants were asked to rate pass severity via a five-point scale from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree' in response to the statement "the incident was dangerous".

A similar three-part section examined opinions on liability of the cyclist and driver in each clip, while a 49-item questionnaire (Deffenbacher et al. 2002) was used to score tendency of participants towards different forms of anger expression when driving.

Information about driving experience, cycling experience, road user identity, and cycling knowledge were also noted for each participant.

The researchers concluded the findings support the hypothesis that "drivers who also ride a pedal cycle frequently or identify as cyclists will apportion less responsibility to a cyclist reporting a close pass, than drivers who do not cycle themselves".

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"Further work is recommended to examine driver opinions of cyclist legitimacy in different road environments and different carriageway positions," the paper states.

"Drivers who also ride a bicycle attributed lower liability to the cyclist in close pass scenarios than drivers who do not also cycle themselves. This study adds further insight into components of this in-group bias, in particular that a shared sense of identity is not the only factor predicting lower liability attributed to cyclists.

"There appears to be a knowledge component to this relationship with 13.9 per cent of the variation in the measure for cyclist liability being predicted by variation in scores on the cycling position knowledge questions.

"This knowledge may frame the drivers' prior assumptions about cyclist behaviour in a positive way, helping them understand why a cyclist adopts a certain carriageway position or is in the road in the first place, thus reducing any tendency to suppose that the cyclist is subverting an expected norm or acting in a selfish or arrogant way."