Key takeaway:
- Through interviews conducted while cycling, this study identified environmental factors and perceptions of road safety influencing children ages 10-12 to bicycle.
Results:
- Comments from participants about the environment along their bike route covered themes of traffic, urban design, cycling facilities, road design, facilities at the destination, aesthetics, topography/ road inclines, weather, social interaction, stranger danger, and familiarity of the environment.
- In addition to reinforcing the influence of environmental factors often identified by the research as connected with biking for transportation, participants also highlighted surfaces and other physical characteristics of cycle facilities, children’s visibility, and legibility/ familiarity with specific traffic situations and facilities.
Methods:
- This study conducted bike-along interviews with 35 children in Flanders, Belgium. The child and parent both wore GoPro cameras and described their perceptions of the physical, natural, and social environment along the route to a familiar destination, with further comments provided through reviewing the recording of the trip with the researcher.
Ghekiere, A., Cauwenberg, J. Van, Geus, B. De, Clarys, P., Cardon, G., Salmon, J., … Deforche, B. (2014). Critical Environmental Factors for Transportation Cycling in Children : A Qualitative Study Using Bike-Along Interviews. Plos One, 9(9). http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106696
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