The Near Miss Project – a pioneering study researching cycling incidents that don’t result in injuries: ‘near misses’ – is returning for a second year and is calling on cyclists from across the United Kingdom to be involved.
Registration for the study, which takes place between Monday October 19 and Sunday November 1 is open now. Participants will be asked to complete an online diary for one day over a two-week period, sharing experiences from their cycle trips on that day and whether they have had any near miss experiences. Cyclists wishing to sign up to take part in the Near Miss Project’s second study can find out more information and register interest on nearmiss.bike
Study lead and Senior Lecturer in Transport at the University of Westminster, Dr Rachel Aldred, commented ‘The Near Miss Project was the first to generate per-mile near miss rates for cyclists in the UK. The second year will take this forward, asking whether things have changed, and gathering more data that will allow us to drill down into different incident types and how they affect people. Increasingly organisations such as TfL are seeing near misses as very important both for improving cycling experience, and for helping to reduce injury risk.’
A new addition to this year’s Near Miss research is the inclusion of a question exploring participants’ cycling experience – and whether they are new or returning cyclists, or have been cycling for a year or more. This addition is in response to suggestions that this might make a difference to near miss rates.
Organising partner, Blaze, creators of the Laserlight, an innovation that helps increase cyclists visibility by projecting a bike symbol ahead of them, was instrumental in the facilitation of this study. Blaze Founder & CEO, Emily Brooke said: ‘We are so pleased that the Near Miss Project is back for a second year. Data collection from cyclists is imperative to helping people better understand how to make cycling safer, for everyone. The 2014 study attracted 1,500 people and this year we want to get at least 2,000 signed up from all over the United Kingdom. We urge everyone to get involved and help achieve our overall aim of helping to making the roads safer for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.’
Further details of the Near Miss Project at nearmiss.bike
