Car driver and bicyclist behavior at bicycle crossings under different priority regulations

In order to improve traffic safety, the Finnish Traffic Code concerning rig hts of way at bicycle crossings changed on the first of June, 1997. This st udy examines the effects of the law change both on drivers' and cyclists' b ehavior, and on their knowledge. Behavior was measured with the help of uno btrusive video recordings, and in experimental settings where a test cyclis t approached a bicycle crossing on a collision course with a car. The new l aw formalized the prevailing yielding behavior between drivers and cyclists at bicycle crossings on road sections where drivers did not generally yiel d to cyclists coming from the right, neither before nor after the law chang e. The study suggests also that changes in priority rules may affect road u ser behavior and knowledge in situations in which the formal change does no t apply. It can be concluded that road users' behavior at bicycle crossings is strongly dependent on their movement direction and on the location of t he crossings. Thus, changes in priority regulations have different effects on road user behavior depending on the characteristics of the bicycle cross ings. (C) 1999 National Safety Council and Elsevier Science Ltd.