The response patterns of young bicyclists to a right-turning motorcycle: a simulator study

This study was designed to assess how bicyclists (30 men, 30 women) responded to right-turning motorised vehicles, which is a risky situation for bicyclists, and employed a scenario in which a motorcycle made a right turn in front of a bicyclist. The factors of speed difference and cut-in time gap were generated to objectively investigate steering control, speed, and the associated collisions in a bicycle simulator. There was no effect for sex, but as expected, for shorter cut-in time gaps, the steering angles were smaller (deflected to the right to avoid the passing motorcycle), the speeds were lower, and the variations in the steering angle and speed were larger. Variations in the steering angle and speed were unexpectedly lower for larger speed differences than for smaller speed differences. Response patterns comprised 5 patterns: early response and quickly depress the brake, last-moment response and slowly depress the brake, late response and quickly depress the brake, very late response and quickly depress the brake, and no response. Larger speed differences and the no-response pattern resulted in two collisions. Individuals with less experience may not have associated speed differences with potential dangers.