Safer 4 Cyclists

This thesis work establishes Safer 4 Cyclists, a safety initiative consisting of a body of work of visual solutions and accompanying research that is not only beneficial to me personally, but to all cyclists, regardless of age, skill level, or reason for riding, be it recreational or for transportation. It is my intent to show that: there exists a hostile and dangerous environment for cyclists riding on the road; and to reveal through a thorough exploration of the underlying conditions, perceptions and human psychology of both cyclists and motorists simple steps that can be taken on behalf of a cyclist to facilitate a safer environment in which to ride. Identification and education of these measures allows cyclists to become active participants and facilitators for both personal safety and the improving of the hostile environment when sharing the road with motorists. Through a visual body of work, corresponding web presence, and collection of data, this initiative seeks to make the cycling environment safer for everyone. Safer 4 Cyclists is centered around the safety and conditions that exist for cyclists in the state of Alabama, and my subsequent contributions to the community around the city of Anniston, as it strives to become “Bike City, USA.”

Safer 4 Cyclists can make a difference in not only increasing the safety of individual cyclists, but it has the potential to have a dramatic effect on the negative perception that many motorists have of road cyclists. Through my research of the negative feelings toward cyclists, I was able to calculate and understand multiple ways in which cyclists were perceived in a negative way. By seeing these issues of negativity, hostility, and perception at their base level, I was able to see that cyclists themselves can have the most direct impact on the root of the problem they face. Once the situation of hostility was understood, visual solutions were created that specifically address issues affecting cyclists on the road. By utilizing the same psychological channels that formed the hostile environment in the first place, cyclists consistently adhering to the simple steps presented in the visual solutions have the potential to make a dramatic impact in the way they are perceived on the road. Road cycling therefore becomes safer, as many of the solutions directly relate to safety issues, and those solutions can have far-reaching effects simply based on motorists viewing cyclists riding safely, and within the rules of the road.

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