A community intervention to prevent traffic accidents among bicycle commuters

To evaluate an educational intervention designed to prevent traffic accidents among workers that use the bicycle for commuting.

A longitudinal intervention study with a stepped wedge implementation was carried out between January 2006 and May 2007. Five neighborhoods with distinct geographic characteristics were selected in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, and 42 census tracts were randomly selected from these neighborhoods. All households were screened for male bicycle commuters, resulting in a sample of 1,133 individuals. The outcomes analyzed were "traffic accidents" and "near accidents". The cyclists were interviewed monthly by phone to record traffic accidents and "near accidents". Every 15 days, from the second month of study, a group of about 60 cyclists was invited to attend the intervention meeting that included an educational component (a talk and a video presentation), distribution of a safety kit (reflective belt & sash, reflective tape and an educational booklet) and a bicycle breaks check-up (maintenance performed if necessary). Poisson regression adjusted for time effect was used to assess the intervention effect.

Nearly 45% of the cyclists did not attend the intervention. During the study period, 9% of the study individuals reported a traffic accident and 88% reported a "near accident". In total there were 106 accidents and 1,091 near accidents. There was no effect observed from the intervention on either of the outcomes.

The intervention tested was not capable of reducing traffic accidents among bicycle commuters. Lack of interest in safety by commuters and external factors, such as road design and motorist behavior, may have together influenced this result.