Unsafe Bicycling Behavior in Changsha, China: A Video-Based Observational Study

The recent emergence of shared bikes has inspired renewed use of bicycles in urban China. However, incidence rates of unsafe cycling behaviors have not been reported using objective methods. We designed a video-based observational study in Changsha, China to estimate the incidence of five unsafe bicycling behaviors among both shared and personal bike riders and examine incidence differences across types of riders and cycling areas. A total of 112 h of video recorded 13,407 cyclists riding shared bikes and 2061 riding personal bikes. The incidences of not wearing a helmet, violating traffic lights, riding in the opposite direction of traffic, not holding the handlebar with both hands, and riding in a non-bicycle lane were 99.28%, 19.57%, 13.73%, 2.57%, and 64.06%, respectively. The incidence rate of all five kinds of behaviors differed significantly across four types of riding areas (shopping, university, office, and leisure) and the rates of the first three kinds of behaviors were statistically different between shared and personal bike riders. In situations where bicycle lanes were available, we observed the incidence of riding on the motorway and on the sidewalk to be 44.06% and 19.99%, respectively. We conclude that unsafe cycling behaviors occur with alarming frequency and differ somewhat between riders of shared versus personal bikes. Further research is recommended to interpret the occurrence of risky cycling and the incidence differences across types of riders and cycling areas.