TY - JOUR
T1 - Abiding by the law when it does not exist
T2 - The case of the helmet bicycle law
AU - HOPE working group
AU - Valero-Mora, Pedro M.
AU - Shinar, David
AU - Ledesma, Rubén D.
AU - Tormo Lancero, María Teresa
AU - Sánchez-García, Mar
AU - Haworth, Narelle
AU - Sanmartín, Jaime
AU - Morandi, Anna
AU - Ferraro, Ottavia E.
AU - Saplioglu, Meltem
AU - Otte, Dietmar
N1 - Funding Information:
The data collection in this study was performed as part of the EU COST Action Project TU 1101. We would like to thank Niels Bogard, who headed the project, for his support and continuous encouragement of this effort. Thanks to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013-2016 (Government of Spain) for the co-financing of María Teresa Tormo Lancero as Technical Personnel to Support R + D + I.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/7/1
Y1 - 2020/7/1
N2 - To improve the safety of bicycle users, some countries have enacted, or considered enacting, mandatory helmet legislation. Of course, the enactment of such legislation in a country assumes that its citizens will be well-informed of it, and consequently, will use the helmet more frequently than before. However, in the survey described in this paper we found that many people are not aware of the legislation in force in their own country, or, even if they know, they may not necessarily behave as dictated by the law. Thus, the effects of mandatory helmet legislation may be somewhat different than desired or expected. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to ascertain the role of cyclists’ knowledge of the law in their country as a mediator between the law and the actual use of the helmet. Respondents from seventeen countries participated in an international survey about cyclists' habits, and answered questions about helmet legislation, and frequency of helmet use. The results indicate that the main effect of mandatory helmet legislation on the frequency of use of the helmet is mediated by the perception that such a law exists in their country—even when in fact sometimes it does not exist.
AB - To improve the safety of bicycle users, some countries have enacted, or considered enacting, mandatory helmet legislation. Of course, the enactment of such legislation in a country assumes that its citizens will be well-informed of it, and consequently, will use the helmet more frequently than before. However, in the survey described in this paper we found that many people are not aware of the legislation in force in their own country, or, even if they know, they may not necessarily behave as dictated by the law. Thus, the effects of mandatory helmet legislation may be somewhat different than desired or expected. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to ascertain the role of cyclists’ knowledge of the law in their country as a mediator between the law and the actual use of the helmet. Respondents from seventeen countries participated in an international survey about cyclists' habits, and answered questions about helmet legislation, and frequency of helmet use. The results indicate that the main effect of mandatory helmet legislation on the frequency of use of the helmet is mediated by the perception that such a law exists in their country—even when in fact sometimes it does not exist.
KW - Bicyclists
KW - Helmet
KW - Mandatory helmet law
KW - Perception of law
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085258632&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.trf.2020.04.010
DO - 10.1016/j.trf.2020.04.010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085258632
VL - 72
SP - 23
EP - 31
JO - Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
JF - Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
SN - 1369-8478
ER -