Abstract
It is an established fact that interaction of road users is crucial for road safety. However, the knowledge about what governs people’s behaviour in interaction with others and what these interactions mean is not well documented. The present study introduces a novel approach for traffic safety research and puts the cyclist identity at the centre of attention, in order to answer the questions how the heterogeneity of cyclists in terms of applied interaction strategies, opinions towards infrastructure and traffic safety can be explained. For this purpose, a qualitative study following the Grounded Theory methodology has been carried out. Fifteen in-depth-interviews with cyclists in Vienna were analysed in order to obtain data about these questions. As a result, we present a model sketch about constructing a cyclist identity, which serves as a framework that links different power relations in traffic, the switching perspectives of being a cyclist/car user and the changing conditions of cycling traffic policy through interaction strategies of self-portrayal, power demonstration and coping with fear. Finally, we argue that applying the often overlooked concept of ‘identity’ can bring new concepts into the debate on traffic safety for cyclists and support efficient traffic policy making.
Highlights
The current study’s focus is the understanding of interactions of cyclists with other road users and their impact on traffic safety
Grounded Theory methodology was chosen because the cycling persons themselves are considered as experts, who augment the understanding of interactions by providing data in direct response to their practical knowledge about interacting as a cyclist (Strübing, 2008)
Within the process of coding and constant comparison we step by step created the phenomenon ‘construction of a cyclist identity’ as the core concept
Summary
The current study’s focus is the understanding of interactions of cyclists with other road users and their impact on traffic safety. The presented research contributes to the further development of action theory in traffic, an area where there has been very little research Interaction is a frequently used term in traffic research, the underlying concept of this term is often vague and social aspects are less visible in traffic research about interaction to date, except for a few studies (e.g. Goffman, 1969; Risser, 1988; Risser, 2000). In this study we want to shed light on interactions in traffic from the perspective of the road users in order to understand the intentions and conditions that are related to their actions. We present a model sketch that considers various conditions for interactions in traffic, whereby ‘identity construction’ is the overarching concept, on which the interactions are directed
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